


A Taste of the Sun

by StarvingArtistProduction



Series: A Taste of the Sun [1]
Category: Reylo - Fandom, Star Wars
Genre: AU, Reylo - Freeform, Star Wars AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:48:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 27,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26332159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarvingArtistProduction/pseuds/StarvingArtistProduction
Summary: AU based loosely on the vampire movie ‘Daybreakers.’Ben Solo, vampire name Kylo Ren, is the lead vampire of the Knights of Ren, a vampire task force specialized in hunting down the last remaining humans in order to farm them for their blood. As the supply runs dangerously low, the First Order Corporation devises a plan that sickens Ben, but is one he must go along with in order to survive. That is, until he meets Rey, an intriguing young woman who lives with the fringes of the human resistance, fighting against the vampire’s oppression. When Rey gives him a chance at redemption, along with a solution to the blood shortage that seems impossible, they form a strong alliance, and return hope to Ben that he can taste the sun again.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: A Taste of the Sun [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1913446
Comments: 26
Kudos: 24





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> Eventual sex, blood and gore to come. I got the inspiration to write this one while watching the movie it is based on; it struck me that I hadn’t seen or come across a vampire Ben/Rey fic before so I decided to write one myself. Hope you guys like it!

One: 

“If I told you what I was, would you turn your back on me?” -‘Monster’ by Imagine Dragons

Ben hadn’t been listening to the droning voice of Armitage Hux at all, rather he was staring down at the table where he rested his loosely clasped hands, waiting for the meeting to be over. It was the same story as it had been the week before, and the month before that: Hunting down the human resistance and bringing them all in to be farmed or bred in order to further bolster the dwindling blood supply. 

“Did you hear me, Kylo?” 

“Hmm?” Ben’s head snapped up at the sound of his name, (one he found himself quickly becoming disenchanted with) meeting Hux’s cold eyes. “No, I didn’t, I was running figures in my head. Say again?” 

“I asked if you had completed your contingency plan yet,” Hux said in a clipped tone. The pale red haired man’s lip curled in disgust, but in the interest of playing nice, he said nothing further. 

“Nearly,” Ben said, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the table; he had been placed in charge of hunting the remaining humans down, a task he wasn’t fond of in the slightest, though he would never admit that out loud. “The only issue we are still having is finding where they are based at; they’ve gotten much better at hiding their tracks.” 

“I was under the impression that your team of insurgents was composed of none but the best of the most elite trackers,” Hux drawled, glancing around the table to gauge the reaction of everyone who was present. Hux delighted in shaming Ben in public settings, making it a game of sorts, one that Ben had quit playing along with in recent months. “Trained by your own hand, yes?” 

“Yes,” Ben said coolly, turning his amber eyes up to Hux’s. “However, in case you have forgotten, humans are also capable of training and learning. Odds are they have updated their tactics for survival, much like we did when we began hunting them down.” 

“Do you have an updated plan or not?” Hux asked, ignoring the jab. “If not, I am sure we can find someone who is more suited to the task.” 

“They need to have a reason to venture out,” Ben said slowly. “They’ve become very resourceful in recent years, likely growing their own crops and finding ways to filter water. And even if they DO venture out, it’s not very far from their base camp, and nowhere near our territory. Searching during the daylight hours is possible, but, as I said, they have likely learned how to better avoid us, perhaps even coming out at night when we don’t expect them to.” 

“What do you propose we do, then?” Pryde asked, his voice a near perfect mimic for the ice in Hux’s. 

“Give them a real reason to come out,” Ben said simply. “They need to be lured, by the promise of their own kind.” 

“Are you suggesting that we let some of them GO in order to do this?” Hux asked, sounding not in the least bit impressed. 

“That’s one way to do it, yes,” Ben said. “Set a trap, or even ransom a few of them, see if we can’t come to an agreement with them.” 

“We have heard your symbiotic plan before and have voted it down, Kylo,” Pryde said stiffly. “What makes you think that they would even dare to trust us enough to meet for such a meeting?” 

Ben’s thoughts flashed to his mother, who was the leader of a branch of the human resistance, a fact Ben had guarded very closely; he had no doubt that his leadership would use them against one another to get what they wanted. Since his turning, he had peddled the notion that both of his parents were dead, rather than just his father, whose dying wish it had been that Ben protect his mother’s identity. While Ben and his father had not always gotten along, he had vowed to respect his wish, and the last time he had seen his mother, he made sure that she understood his reasons for cutting ties. In the time since their parting, Ben had honestly lost all contact with his mother, and truly didn’t know if she lived or not.

“Living in exile has no doubt taken its toll on them,” he said slowly. “Surely there is something we can offer them, allow them to lay down the terms for such a meeting, anything they want, if only to get them to speak to us.” 

“They won’t,” one of the other generals at the table said. “Would we do the same if we were in their position? No, so our only choice is it hunt them down and bring them in by force. With the new breeding program set into place, we can ensure that we always have fresh stock.”

“Human gestation takes nearly a year, and even longer for them to be of a decent age to farm,” Ben said harshly. “I can’t be the only one who sees that.” 

“We have the technology to expedite human growth,” Hux said. 

“Cloning?” Ben scoffed. “If that’s such a solid plan, why not clone the ones we have now? They’re already here, in comas and unable to fight; pilfer the DNA needed from them.” 

“Our stock is too old for that,” Phasma said pragmatically. “When someone is cloned, the new being is just as old as the original, carrying all of it’s ailments, age included. We need fresh, unblemished DNA in order for it to work, which is where the breeding program comes into play. We only need a new litter every five to ten years, in order to keep the machine going.” 

Ben clenched his teeth at Phasma’s words and what they implied: breed and torture babies until they’re too old to be of use, then farm them along with the clones. How had they fallen so low as to be legitimately discussing feeding on BABIES? 

‘We really are becoming monsters, aren’t we?’ Ben thought to himself, then added aloud, “Allow me one more week to develop a better plan, and we can go from there.” 

“Snoke won’t be pleased with this,” Hux warned, a grin that was more of a sneer stretching over his thin lips.

“I’ll speak with him about it personally,” Ben countered, unfazed by the threat. “That is, if you’re tired of being his punching bag; wouldn’t want to stomp on your toes.” 

Everyone at the table was silent, watching with boredom as the petty rivalry that Hux seemed hell-bent on maintaining went through it’s routine. Ben had long grown tired of the constant needling form the other man and sometimes wondered if it would be worth the consequences of ripping his throat out, but had decided that the ginger wasn’t worth the energy.

“Are we done here?” Ben asked, not waiting for a reply before standing. Everyone at the table followed suit, though Ben doubted that it was entirely out of respect. He gave a firm nod to Hux and Pryde before exiting the meeting room, heading directly towards the parking garage, wanting to return home before sunrise. Though his car was equipped with the latest UV protection, he detested driving during daylight hours, because it reminded him of what he missed so much. 

It had been nearly twenty years since he last felt the sun; had he known it would be the last time, he supposed that he never would have gone to sleep that night. Despite being immortal, Ben had never dared to sleep with someone else around since the night he had been turned, the lingering mistrust refused to ebb with time. 

Sighing to himself, he opened the door of his sleek black car, a ‘69 camero that had been his fathers, and slid into the driver’s seat. It had nearly killed him to have to add the UV technology, but it had been better than the alternative of scrapping it for something newer. He sometimes pondered the idea of busting the windows out and simply driving until the sun came up, ending everything, but the lingering thought of his mother and how it would destroy her kept him from ever seriously entertaining the idea. Death wasn’t the answer. 

Lost in thought, Ben drove the long way home, comforted by the rumble of the old car’s engine, feeling almost as though his father wasn’t truly gone but rather haunting the old machine. The thought was oddly happy to him, as it chased away the lingering guilt that he harbored for being the cause of his father’s passing, an ever present shadow that he knew he would never shake completely. 

“You did what you had to do, Ben,” his mother had said on the last night he saw her. She was holding him in a tight embrace, soothing his tears the way only a mother truly could, unafraid of the fact that her son was now a monster. 

“I should have died,” he murmured against her shoulder. “I should have refused and just died, it would have been better that way.” 

“Don’t you ever think that!” Leia had admonished, leaning away and tilting her son’s face up to hers. She concealed the shock of seeing his eyes, once a lovely, warm brown, now amber with the turn; this was her son, the color of his eyes didn’t change that. “Your father loved you, he would rather have given his life to save you than watch his only son die in agony.” 

Sudden headlights and a blaring horn jerked Ben from his memory, and he swerved just in time to avoid a head-on collision with an oncoming SUV. Stomping the break hard, Ben brought the car to a halt, threw it into park and glanced up in his rear view mirror to see if he needed to get out. As he watched, the big vehicle over-corrected, it’s tires striking the curb and tipping over onto its side with a loud crash. 

“Shit,” Ben said, yanking the door handle and exiting the car, then breaking into a light run as he went to check if the passengers were alright. He came up short when he caught the scent of their blood, hot and almost cloying in the clear night air. They were human. 

The first person to exit the vehicle was a short, black haired woman dressed in an ill-fitting mechanic’s coverall and work boots, her hair was pulled back into a sloppy ponytail, and a thin crescent shaped pendant bounced against her chest. She didn’t notice him somehow, turning to help pull someone else from the overturned car. 

Two people popped their heads into view at the same time, one with a mess of short black curls dressed in a tan button down; he looked at the other man, a black man with a short crew cut and a bomber jacket that smelled like very old leather, and reached up to run his thumb over his eyebrow, wiping away blood from a cut. The darker skinned man waved the other off, then ducked down to help the last person out of the car, and the sight of her stopped Ben completely in his tracks. 

She was small, but clearly very athletic, her suntanned arms corded with muscle. Her hair, a soft brown, was pulled half-up at the back, and fell to her shoulders, tousled from the wreck. She wore a cream colored tank top that had several stains blotching it, and as she hoisted herself out of the busted window, Ben saw that she had on a pair of very faded blue jeans. She was absolutely stunning, but what struck Ben the most was the alluring scent of her blood, so strong that it woke his hunger with near violent fervor that made Ben grimace in pain as his fangs ripped free and elongated in their sockets. As if sensing this, the young woman looked up and spotted him, her hazel eyes going wide as she grabbed something from a thigh holster and pointed it right at him. 

“Hey, agh!” Ben threw his hands up in a defensive maneuver, and a thin bolt of wood pierced his left forearm, but he barely felt it. “Don’t!” 

“You stay back!” The woman shouted, keeping Ben in the crosshairs of her weapon. “I WILL shoot you again.” 

“Why the hell are you warning him,” the curly haired man asked incredulously. “Just fucking shoot him!”

“DON’T!” Ben protested, raising his arms again, palms out in surrender. “Please, don’t shoot me again. I’m not going to hurt you, alright, I just wanted to see if everyone was okay.”

“And we’re just supposed to trust you?” The darker haired woman asked, sounding skeptical; she also had a weapon trained on him, finger poised over the trigger. 

“You don’t have to, I guess,” Ben said, slowly turning his head towards her. “You don’t really have a reason to.” 

“You’re not making a good case for yourself,” she said, giving him an amused look, her dark eyes trailing him from head to foot, as if she were examining a bug. 

“Look, if you’re going to shoot me, shoot,” Ben said, exasperated and turning his eyes back to the other woman. “I’m just making sure you guys okay, I have no interest in feeding off of any of you.” 

“Rey?” The black man asked softly, keeping his knowing eyes on Ben. There was something about that gaze that made Ben think the other man... Recognized him? He clearly knew that Ben could hear them, so whispering was out of the question, but he sounded as though he was trying to urge Rey into a decision. The girl called Rey broke eye contact with Ben for a moment, and something passed between her and the other man, something unspoken but clearly understood. 

“What’s your name?” Rey asked, not bothering to pitch her voice low. 

“Ben,” he replied, keeping his hands up. 

“Can you lift a car, Ben?” Rey asked, lowering her weapon an inch so that if she DID happen to fire, it wouldn’t be a kill shot. Ben frowned at the oddity of her question, then realized what she meant: she wanted him to right the vehicle for them. 

“Yes,” he said, lowering his own hands in mirror to her. “I also have some tools if you need those.”

Rey smirked, a movement of her mouth that was almost imperceptible, before saying, “Let’s just start with getting the car off of its side.” 

Ben waited for her to beckon him over before daring to move; the dark haired man and woman didn’t relax at all, and were both eyeing Rey and the black man as if they thought they had lost their collective minds. Moving slowly as if trying not to spook a frightened animal, Ben approached the group, keeping his eyes locked with Rey’s; there was something alluring about her, and it wasn’t just the fact that her blood smelled better than anything Ben had ever come across. 

Pushing the thought of her blood from his mind, Ben moved around to the roof of the car, silently inspecting it for hand holds while assessing the damage. It looked that nothing more was wrong with it other than busted windows from the impact with the concrete and a severely dented door, so it would still drive. 

“It looks like any damage is only superficial,” Ben said, looking up and speaking directly to Rey, who nodded her understanding. Ben knelt down and hooked his fingers under the edge of the vehicle, shoving hard to get good hand holds despite the broken glass slicing into his hands, he healed quickly so the damage didn’t matter. In one swift motion, Ben stood up and lifted the car with him as if it weighed nothing at all, carefully righting it to all four wheels with a loud metallic groan. Ben dusted the glass from his hands and then looked up to see everyone looking at him, with less wariness than they had at first. “Anything else?” 

“Are your hands okay?” Rey asked, stepping closer to him, hand extended without any trepidation at all. Ben held his hands out to her so she could inspect them, marveling at how she had gone from shooting a bolt at him without thought, to seeming unafraid and actually concerned for him so quickly. Rey ran gentle fingers over the already healing cuts, her eyes wide with fascination; when they fell on the shaft of wood that was still protruding from his arm, her lips pursed, and she grabbed a hold of it firmly and yanked it out without preamble. 

“AH, fuck!” Ben growled at the sudden spike of pain, which faded quickly as soon as the barb was gone. 

“Better?” Rey asked, pushing his sleeve up to inspect the wound, studying how the flesh knit itself back together. 

“Much,” Ben said, his voice soft with wonder. “Thank you, Rey.” 

“Don’t mention it,” she said, pulling his sleeve back down. “You didn’t have to help, but you did, even though I shot you.” 

“Rey, we can’t stay here,” the dark haired woman said urgently. 

“I know, Rose,” Rey said, casting her friend a look that said she needed to calm down. Rose nodded her understanding, then looked at Ben with some curiosity coloring her eyes, and Ben tilted his head at her. 

“Is anyone hurt?” Ben asked, his eyes flashing to the deep gash on Rose’s face, then to the one above the black man’s eyebrow. “I have first aid supplies that you can have... I don’t really need them anymore.” 

Without waiting for confirmation, Ben went back to his car and popped the trunk open, retrieved the red box of medical supplies, and brought it back to the group, who were now getting back into the vehicle, except for Rey, who had stood and watched Ben the entire time. He held the box out to her and she took it, tucked it under her arm and held her hand out to him. 

“Thank you, Ben,” she said, offering him a small smile that made her face even lovelier than it already was. Ben decided that he loved her smile, and took her hand in a firm grip, noting that she jumped slightly at the chill of his skin. 

“Of course,” Ben said softly, quickly becoming enamored with the woman before him. The heat of her skin was wonderful, like the sun after a long, cold night, and he found that he didn’t want to let go. He wanted to hold onto that warmth for as long as possible, and had to bite back disappointment when she released his hand. 

“Maybe I’ll see you around,” she said lightly, stepping back towards the open passenger door of the SUV. 

“I honestly doubt that,” Ben said, unable to keep a note of disappointment from his low voice. With a slightly knowing smile, Rey got into the vehicle, and the black man put on the gas before she even closed the door; her eyes never left his until they were out of sight.


	2. Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Despite Poe’s doubts, Leia gives Rey the go-ahead to seek out her son in the hopes that he will be willing to aid them. Though secretive about just what it is they want from him, Ben knows that the best choice is to trust this intriguing young woman, as the hope for change she promises is too much to risk not taking a chance on.

“Put to rest what you thought of me, while I clean this slate with the hands of uncertainty.” ‘What I’ve Done’ by Linkin Park

Rey sat in her small room, perched on a chair that was so worn down that it looked prepared to collapse under her at any second. Her hazel eyes were fixed hard on the sheet of paper in front of her, her hand darting around the page in small bursts as she shaded in the face she was drawing. Her fingers were stained with the charcoal, grimed under her finger nails along with lord knew what else, and when she brushed a strand of hair from her eyes, she left a smudge across her forehead. 

The man on the page was the man who had helped them earlier that night, Ben, and she struggled to capture the intensity of his gaze, frowning to herself as she made sharp marks to detail the starbursts in his irises. He was beautiful to her, in a way that she couldn’t forget; he was supposed to be a monster, yet he had seemed so human to her that she couldn’t stop thinking about him, and so she settled on sketching his face while she sorted her thoughts. 

She had meant to kill him where he stood the moment she laid eyes on him, drawing her make-shift cross bow quickly, not really bothering to aim because if she could distract him with the first shot, a kill shot would be easier. But the humanity in his eyes made her stay her hand for a second, just long enough for Finn to call her attention away. 

“Why did you stop her from killing it where it stood?” Poe had snapped once they were out of earshot. His words were directed at Finn, who met his gaze evenly in the rear view mirror. 

“He helped us,” Finn said simply. “It could have been much worse; we could still be on foot right now, running from their hunters, but we’re not.” 

“It could have killed one of us!” 

“He, Poe, he,” Finn said. “It bothers me when you call them ‘it’ because they’re still people, like I am.” 

Finn had been like Ben once, a vampire who had defected and somehow managed to turn BACK human. No one could figure out exactly how he had managed it, Finn himself included, but it had become a mystery that Leia was determined to solve. 

“You gambled with our lives, Finn,” Poe said, though Rey could tell he felt bad for hurting the other man. “That isn’t fair, and you know it.”

“How long have we been looking for someone to help us with this?” Finn asked, sitting forward in his seat. “Vampires wouldn’t stop to see if anyone was alright, they heal too quickly for it to even matter, but HE did, and when he realized we were human, he immediately put his hands up to show he didn’t mean to harm us.” 

“Finn’s right, Poe,” Rose said, and Rey nodded. “How many vamps have we run into who acted the way he did tonight?”

“Rey?” 

Rey jumped at the voice behind her, momentarily startled since the voice hadn’t been one in her memory, and turned slightly in her chair to see Leia standing in her doorway. Rey smiled at the older woman and beckoned her in, standing to give her a tight hug.

“Finn told me what happened,” Leia said. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” Rey said, gesturing to herself. “Only a few bruises; Finn and Rose had the worst of it, but thankfully we acquired some medical supplies...” 

“Aquired makes it sound like you found them somewhere,” Leia said, a humorous glint flashing in her eyes. 

“Yeah, the vampire who helped us gave it to us, said he really didn’t need it,” Rey said, turning to pull the loose page from her desk and hand it to Leia. “This is him.” 

“OH!” Leia said, one hand going to her mouth as she took the drawing from Rey, tears springing into her eyes. Rey looked at her, perplexed by her reaction, and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. 

“Leia, what is it?” 

“It’s Ben,” Leia said, her voice slightly choked with emotion. 

“That’s what he said his name was,” Rey said slowly, still not understanding. “Leia?”

“My son,” Leia said, gingerly touching the picture, careful not to smudge it. “This is my son, Rey.”

Rey’s mouth dropped open; she had known that Leia had a son, and that he’d been turned, but had never asked to learn anything about him at all. She knew that he was around nine years older than she was, had even known that his father had died trying to save him, but she never dreamed that she would ever run into him herself. 

“This is Ben,” Leia repeated, this time looking back to the younger woman, her eyes now shining with hopeful tears. “Finn was right, he WILL help us if we ask him to.” 

“Do you know where he is now?” Rey asked. The city was massive, but perhaps Ben’s mother would know where he resided, if he hadn’t relocated since the take over. “I’ll go get him!” 

“It’s too dangerous to go during the night,” Leia said. “I would advise you to wait until the sun has been up for at least an hour or two before you go out.” 

“Of course,” Rey said, then added thoughtfully, “I think I should go alone, though... Poe didn’t seem to take too kindly to him, I can’t speak for Rose, though.”

“If she’s comfortable with it, I would still at least take her,” Leia said, handing the drawing back to Rey. “She trusts you, and she won’t fly off the handle like Poe will.” 

Rey smiled at the gentle dig at their pilot turned truck driver; she liked Poe a lot, he was caring and quite humorous when he wanted to be, but he did have a tendency to be a bit hot headed at the worst possible times, borderline reckless at the best. 

“Daybreak it is, then.”

The sun had been up for two hours, and Rey and Rose were driving through the deadly quiet streets, feeling slightly uneasy. They were in a stolen vehicle that had UV tech in it, but they both felt that somehow anyone who happened to be awake would see them and simply KNOW that it was two humans inside. They both knew that vampires had a heightened sense of smell, and silently prayed that it wasn’t so sensitive that those indoors would catch it. 

“Do you think he’ll help?” Rose asked, breaking the silence as they turned onto the street that was indicated on the hand drawn map Leia had given them. They dared not risk using GPS for fear of being tracked by the hunters; Rey preferred using maps anyway, it made her feel more in tune with her surroundings than GPS did. 

“Will you be surprised if I do?” Rey countered, keeping her eyes on the projection screen that was the windshield. It displayed the world with rather impressive clarity, though it had taken a lot of getting used to. 

“No, not at all,” Rose said, pondering what they were about to do. She was still mildly stunned at what had happened, and even more shocked with herself considering her own personal vendetta with vampires. Her sister had been slaughtered by one during a supply raid, and Rose could do nothing to save her; the incident still haunted her dreams at night. Every fiber of her being was screaming at her to shoot it -him- as soon as she saw him; kill him before he could hurt anyone else she loved, but she had stopped when she saw Finn and Rey’s reaction to him. “You seem rather enamored with him, if you don’t mind my saying.” 

“What do you mean?” Rey asked, shooting Rose a genuinely confused look. “I’m not enamored, just... I don’t know, curious. I’ve never come across one like him before.”

“What? Tall and stupidly handsome?” Rey shot Rose a look of mock disgust, and Rose added, “Oh come on, he might be a vampire but he’s a damn good looking one at that.” 

“They all are,” Rey said bluntly. “That’s part of the danger they pose: they’re otherworldly beautiful, and that’s what draws you in.”

“And you?”

Rey was quiet for a second before saying, “I’m not enamored, Rose, but there is something so undeniably... HUMAN about him, that’s what made me stop, nothing else.”

“He seemed pretty transfixed with you, as well,” Rose said, only half teasing. She had observed the way his eyes had widened slightly, lips parted as he shook her hand, like a blind man seeing color for the first time. “He didn’t take his eyes off of you unless he had to.”

“He’s a vampire.”

“His gaze wasn’t predatory,” Rose said thoughtfully, glancing up through the windshield as Rey pulled the car into the empty driveway. She briefly wondered if maybe he wasn’t home, but followed Rey out into the sun without voicing this. 

Craning her head back, Rey observed the house, which was small but two storied with an attached garage and greenhouse that had no UV protection on it. She smirked a little bit at the oddity of a being who could die in the sun willingly having a room whose sole purpose was to let the light in; despite the irony, she found it very endearing for a reason she couldn’t quite put her finger on. 

“Think he’s home?” Rose asked, eyeing a cleverly hidden security camera, feeling as though there was a set of amber eyes staring back at her from the other side of the tiny lense. 

“I would be surprised if he wasn’t,” Rey said, following the line of Rose’s eyes to the small camera that was tucked just under the beam of the gutter that ran along the lip of the roof. “It’s approaching noon, and something tells me that he isn’t the late night partying type. But if he isn’t, I’ve got nothing better to do.” 

Rey started up the walk with Rose close at her heals, her narrow eyes scanning the houses on the street for movement of any sort, despite the blaring sun. She knew that the vampires had developed suits that protected the wearer from the sunshine, and could be on them in seconds if someone were to sound an alarm. 

Rey came directly up to the door and began to inspect it; there didn’t seem to be a door knob on the outside, but on closer inspection she saw a thin ring that showed the cavity into which the door knob could slide in and out of at the home owner’s will. It was an excellent anti theft device, and she made a mental note to see about pilfering or salvaging one to instal on the main doors of their hide out. It likely wouldn’t stop the search battalion, but it would give them enough of a pause to allow the humans to at least get into a defensive position. 

“You’re in there,” Rey whispered to herself, her eyes flashing to the near microscopic camera that was nestled where a peep hole would be on a regular house. “I just want to talk, Ben, please.” 

Several long seconds ticked by before Rey caught the lense of the camera’s movement, so slight that she nearly missed it, moving to point to the left and down. Rey followed the track and saw that there was a modest planter box that had been built into the rock, absolutely FULL of roses. How she had managed to miss it before, she didn’t know, but she grinned back up at the camera before kneeling down to look for the key that she was now certain was hidden among the thorns and leaves. 

“Great,” Rose huffed, seeing that there wasn’t a visible doorknob. “How in the hell are we supposed to pick THAT? There isn’t even a key slot!” 

“We’re not,” Rey said as her fingers clamped around something small, metal and cool to the touch, then added while standing, “We’ve been given an invite.” 

Rey held up a small, thin bit of metal that looked like a fob of some kind, and Rose recognized that that was pretty much what it was. She knew that inside that small plate was a magnetic strip that was coded to allow this door, and ONLY this door to open, which explained the lack of a key slot. 

“How did you manage to find that?” Rose asked, her eyes wide with bewilderment as she resisted the urge to take it from her friend to inspect closer. She loved tech like this, mechanical things more so, but it was still incredible to her that it was possible to make something so powerful so small. Her sister had been the one of the pair who could spend days pouring over an old motherboard, picking it apart then putting it all back together in a more efficient manner. 

Rey didn’t answer, busy with looking for the place that she needed to press the fob to in order to trigger the doorknob to spring free. When she couldn’t find one, she decided to press it into the circle where the knob should have been, and was slightly annoyed at how obvious it had been. The doorknob sprung free with a whirring sound followed by a metallic click as the deadbolt slid away from it’s slot that held the door closed. Glancing up at the camera again, Rey closed her hand around the knob and turned it firmly, forcing herself to ignore the sudden rush of fear that began to course through her blood. Without looking back to see if Rose was following, she took a steadying breath, then stepped across the threshold and into the pitch black foyer. 

The two women stood together in the dark, Rose’s hand was hooked around the edge of the door so that it wasn’t completely shut, and thus letting in a wide beam of light. Rey elbowed her friend, who gave a small gasp of protest before realizing that Ben had likely stayed back in the dark in order to avoid being drawn into a trap. She couldn’t say that she blamed him at all, and felt no annoyance when she pushed the door closed with a loud click, followed half a second later by the sound of the dead bolt socking home. The darkness was cool, and seemed to have an odd weight to it that Rey hadn’t expected at all; rather than one filled with the lingering presence of a monster, it was filled with that same human aura that Rey had observed about Ben earlier that night. 

“Should we go in?” Rose asked, her voice low. 

“Unless you’ve developed night vision in the past minute, how do you propose we see our way around?” Rey quipped as she squinted uselessly into the dark. Suddenly, as if on some sort of cue, a light flashed on further in the house, momentarily blinding the pair before their eyes adjusted. Rey could make out the shape of a small dining table, but not much else. Swallowing hard, Rey moved towards the light, taking sure and confident strides, finding herself impossibly curious all of the sudden. 

Rey stood in the kitchen doorway, blinking at the brightness of the light until she could stand to look around without holding a hand up to shield her eyes. Once she had adjusted, she saw Ben standing on the opposite side of the kitchen, both hands placed on the granite counter top that he was leaning on. In the light, Rey could see just how black his hair was, like raven silk framing his deathly pale face, the startling and unnatural shade of amber that the vampirism had caused his eyes to turn, and the ghost of blue-black veins on his temples and neck where his jugular was. He wore a black tank-top under an old looking white button down, sleeves pushed up to his elbows, revealing forearms that were thick with muscle. He seemed perfectly at ease with himself, as well as his uninvited company. 

“Sorry about that,” he said, his voice low and almost husky as he stared at Rey. “I forget that not everyone can see in the dark.” 

“I honestly didn’t expect that there would be no light,” Rey said evenly, though it made plenty of sense that someone who didn’t NEED light wouldn’t bother with them. “Did we wake you?” 

“No,” Ben said. “I don’t sleep very well, anyway, and you tripped the motion sensors right away.”

“How sensitive are they, exactly?” Rose asked, coming further into the room to stand by Rey. 

Ben studied Rose carefully, listening to her elevated heart rate that gave away how terrified she truly was, despite the even tone of her voice. He noted that neither of them carried a weapon, at least not that he could readily see, and decided that they were, in fact, only there to talk. 

“You’re fine,” he said, giving Rose a kind smile. “Mine is the only house on the block that has them, so the only people who know that you’re here are the three of us, and whoever sent you.” 

After a seconds pause, Ben added, “You can sit down, I won’t hurt you.” 

Rey, surprising herself, didn’t hesitate to accept his offer, moving to perch herself on one of the tall, stainless steel bar stools that was positioned along the bar style counter. Rose followed her lead, giving the back of her friend’s head an incredulous look before doing so; Ben saw her face and had to suppress a laugh. 

“Can I get you anything?” 

Rey frowned and glanced dubiously at the fridge, which Ben couldn’t help but laugh at; the rich sound echoed only slightly in the kitchen, making Rose jump, but not Rey. 

“Vampires still drink water and eat, you know,” he said. “Blood IS the bulk of it, but we still require much of the sustenance that you do.” 

“Sorry,” Rey managed, her cheeks growing hot with mild embarrassment. “Water would be good, thank you.” 

Ben’s eyes flashed to Rose, who jumped as if struck before nodding and mumbling a soft word of thanks. Ben went to the cupboard and grabbed two crystal glasses and set them on the counter before opening the fridge and producing a large pitcher with a filter on it, and pouring them each a full glass. Then, moving a bit slower and with more deliberation, he picked up the glasses and came around the counter on Rey’s left, gently setting them down close enough for Rey to reach out and take both of them from him. Ben had to resist the urge to take her hand, remembering how beautifully warm she was, but he was fairly certain that it wasn’t anywhere near a good idea. 

“Now, what is it you want to talk about?” Ben asked, fixing Rey with a curious look. Rey noted that he seemed much less afraid of them when they didn’t have a weapon pointed at him, but wasn’t sure why SHE felt so calm when there was nothing at all stopping him from killing them both. 

“We’ve been looking for vamp- people, like you who we can trust,” Rey said slowly, correcting herself before completing the word ‘vampire.’ He was a person... He was Leia’s SON; perhaps that was the difference between now and their first encounter. 

“Trust? With what?” 

“That’s... hard to explain,” Rey said, setting her now empty water glass back onto the counter. “It’s no secret that your blood supplies are running thin, and there aren’t enough humans left to fix that. Now, I don’t know what you guys have planned on your end, but I can guarantee that what we have is better.”

“I’m inclined to agree with that,” Ben said, recalling the meeting from earlier in which they discussed capturing and breeding women. “I can already tell you that I am more willing to aid you than I am my superiors, no matter the difficulty.”

“What’s the vamps plan?” Rose blurted out, her voice once again taking on an edge that made Ben arch an eyebrow at her. 

“You don’t want to know,” Ben said honestly. “You hate me enough as it is, and I would rather not feed that disdain if I can help it.” 

“We were sent to ask you if you’ll help us,” Rey cut in, sensing that Rose was becoming quickly agitated. “If you agree to, we will have a rendezvous point and time set up; unfortunately it will be during the daylight hours, but we will take all measures we need in order to make sure you’re safe and protected from the sun.”

“Sounds like it would be an elaborate trap,” Ben said, though he knew that it wasn’t. Rey’s heartbeat was steady, if a little elevated, and there was nothing in her voice or eyes to hint that she was lying to him.

“If we wanted you dead, you would be,” she said evenly. 

“Fair enough,” Ben said, smirking slightly. “Do I get to know what your plan is before I agree to it?”

“No,” Rey said. “Our orders were to seek you out and see if you were willing to help, nothing more. That way if something were to happen to us, our plans and location were safe.” 

“You have a funny way of showing trust.” 

“We came without weapons, didn’t we?” 

Ben smirked and said, “Good point. Whatever your plan is, I’m with you, come hell or high water.”

“Why are you so quick to join with us?” Rose asked, white knuckling the counter top, a tell that Rey recognized as an impending panic attack that manifested as anger in her friend. “We’re talking about ending the vampires for good, and you’re just... OKAY with that?”

“There are still some of us who don’t like the way things are,” Ben said, keeping his voice even. “Not all of us are monsters in the sense you’re thinking; not all of us were given a choice, so we rebel in any way that we can.” 

“So helping us is an act of rebellion?” Rose snapped, jumping down from her bar stool. Rey was up in the same second, standing between her and Ben, and meeting her eyes with a firm stare. 

“Go wait in the car, Rose,” Rey said softly.

“I’m not leaving you in here alone with him,” Rose said, glaring over Rey’s shoulder at Ben, who was watching them intently, though she did notice it wasn’t with the eyes of a predator. Intrinsically, Rose knew that Ben wasn’t going to harm her in any way, but she still warred with her disdain. 

“Your sister wouldn’t want you to be this way,” Rey said. She knew it wasn’t fair, but it seemed to be the only thing that would get through to her friend. Rose inhaled sharply, her hand unconsciously going to the crescent shaped pendant on her neck. “Save what you love.” 

“Save what we love,” Rose said, suddenly seeming ashamed of herself. She glanced back towards Ben, who wore a look of understanding etched on his face, eyes filled with sympathy rather than pity. “Excuse me... Thank you, for the water.” 

Ben and Rey watched Rose leave, neither moving or saying a word until the door opened then quickly shut, triggering a beeping from somewhere in the house that was followed by a cool, mechanical voice alerting them that the front door had been disturbed. Ben absently tapped his watch to silence the alarm as Rey turned back to face him. 

“I’m sorry about Rose,” she said. “She lost her sister to a vampire... It still effects her to this day.”

“I can understand that,” Ben said, and Rey knew that he meant it, guessing that he himself had lost a loved one to the vampire’s untamable thirst. “I’m not so sure that I would trust me right away if our roles were reversed.” 

“Why risk helping us, then?” Rey asked. “Once you realized we were human, you didn’t leave or attempt anything at all, risking your own life in the process.” 

“Being a vampire doesn’t always kill one’s sense of morality, Rey,” Ben said simply. “Vampires face the same charges in the event of a hit and run that we did as humans; our ability to heal from just about any injury doesn’t change that fact.” 

“You didn’t hit us, though.” 

“I was on the wrong side of the road and not paying attention,” Ben explained, stepping forward and resting his hands on the counter top. “It was my fault that you ended up in the situation in the first place.” 

Rey nodded her understanding, eyes trailing down in thought, stopping when she noticed a nasty looking purple scar on his left arm where the bolt of wood had struck him earlier that night. Frowning, Rey stepped closer to Ben and grabbed his arm to inspect the wound; she didn’t notice the way Ben tensed up at her touch and the way her proximity had made his thirst flare up again. 

“I thought vampires couldn’t scar,” she mused, running her thumb over the raised scar tissue. “That their diet of human blood kept them from it in addition to aiding the healing factor.” 

“No, that’s correct,” Ben said, swallowing hard. “But I don’t consume human blood; I haven’t for a very long time.” 

“That’s possible?” Rey asked, looking up to meet his eyes, which were blazing with a dull light that she knew should have scared her, yet didn’t. 

“It’s a lot like a human trying to live on only bread and water,” Ben said, and his eyes darted to her throat and back to her eyes. “It’s not really living in a healthy manner, but it’s enough to at least stave off death for a time...”

“But not forever,” Rey observed, completely unperturbed by his eyes jumping to her neck. Why that was though, she couldn’t say; she knew intrinsically that it should have scared the holy hell out of her, how easily he could snag a handful of her hair, twist her head back to expose her neck and simply bite down, either turning her or killing her. It would be all too easy, but she knew deep down that he never would. 

“No, not forever,” he said, his voice low and husky; the sound sent a shock up her spine and made her blood very hot with sudden and unexpected desire. Blushing, Rey realized just how close they were standing and took a reluctant step backwards while still holding Ben’s arm, marveling at the chill his skin gave off. 

“You’ll help us, then?” She asked, her voice only a few notches above a whisper. 

“In any way that I can,” Ben said; the sound of desire in her voice coupled with the heady scent of her arousal caused heat to coil and pool low in his belly. He was momentarily startled by his sudden erection and he silently prayed that she didn’t notice it... Or maybe hoped that she would. The sudden mental image of picking Rey up, laying her back on the counter and sinking into her savagely flashed through his mind, and he forced himself to mirror her and take a step back, clearing his throat awkwardly. “Where and when do we meet?” 

“Oh, here,” Rey reached into her pocket, produced a small white envelope and held it out to him. “This is the information you’ll need; meet us here at mid day, no later than half an hour passed, or we won’t be there.” 

Ben reached out and took the envelope, purposely making sure that their fingers touched as he did so. He was entranced by how warm she was, almost seeming to scald him, and he lingered, eyes fixed on their hands, his lips slightly parted. He heard Rey’s heart beat pick up, but she didn’t remove her hand either, and he wondered if she was as entranced as he was. 

“You won’t have to worry about the sun,” she said softly, reluctantly drawing her hand back and meeting his eyes. A blackness had edged around his amber iris, a sign of thirst, she knew, and she suddenly felt rather sad for him. She knew that he must be in agony standing here with her, smelling and hearing her blood as it rushed through her body. “We’ll make sure to have a lean-to or something to create shade... Weapons will be there as a precaution, I trust you can understand that.”

“Of course,” Ben said, mentally shaking himself. “And... Thank you.”

“For what?” 

“For trusting me with this,” Ben said, his voice still low. “I know it can’t be easy, for any of you, to come to one of us for help.”

“You’re not like the others...” Rey said, her voice barely above a whisper, and she found herself trailing her fingers back up his arm to the circular scar that she had created. “You’re so... Human.”

“We all used to be human at one point,” Ben said, turning his arm to allow her to trace along his forearm. “Some of us just seem to have forgotten that at some point or another.”

“Us humans included,” Rey added, looking back up into Ben’s strange eyes, wondering what color they used to be. She had never seen a picture of him before, as such mementos were seen as dead weight and a liability when traveling. “So many of us, myself included, simply chose to see the unknown as frightening, full of monsters, and after the First Order began hunting us shamelessly, it made it that much easier to deny any humanity any of you might still have.” 

Ben felt a rush of guilt at the mention of the company he worked for, knowing that he was the head of the department that hunted out the humans like cattle. He had done it to keep his own life and not be thrown into the sun as a traitor, but it had continued to needle at him until he considered walking into the sunlight himself. Now, though, Rey stood in front of him, offering atonement and a chance to regain some of his humanity back. 

“I can throw them off your trail,” he offered, his words coming out in a rush. “I... I’m on the team that goes out after humans, I know their plans, and they look to me to move forward with them.” 

Doubt crept into Rey’s gaze, and she pulled her hand back slowly as she began to wonder if she had just made a grave mistake. She had just handed over a sure fire way to snag some of them, and a clue as to where they might be hiding, to a vampire who had just admitted to being part of the hunting parties. 

“No,” Ben said quickly, sensing her sudden trepidation, stepping into her and gripping her arms tightly. “No, Rey, I swear to you, I won’t let them find you. I’ll die before I let them hurt you, any of you.”

Rey tensed up at the contact, but didn’t pull away from him, instead reaching up to grip his arms in return, though out of a warning posture or the desire to simply touch him, she wasn’t sure. The fear and pure honesty in his eyes helped to quell her sudden anxiety, and she nodded slowly. 

“I trust you,” she said, and she meant it. “Send them to the east; there’s an abandoned town out there, about two hours from the far side of this city. It would be perfect for cover, but we wouldn’t use it because of the proximity. If you send them that way, then we can continue heading our direction with you, and they won’t realize it until we’re gone.”

“We’ve searched that city before,” Ben said, frowning. “I don’t know if I can convince them to go back.”

“I’m sure you’ll figure something out, you seem smart,” Rey said, and Ben couldn’t be certain, but he felt as though she might be teasing him. “Turn off your vehicle’s GPS and any radio system that you can be tracked through, okay?”

“Okay,” Ben said, releasing his grip on her arms. “Tell whoever you bring to shower in scentless soap if you have it... Some of the team is specialized to track scents.” 

Rey nodded and stepped back, holding out her hand to him, and Ben took it, wishing that she wouldn’t leave, but he knew that she had to. 

“Here,” he said, stripping his shirt off and handing it to her. “In case you’re tracked, they’ll smell the vampire before they will the human.”

“Thank you,” Rey said, blushing slightly as she looked over his arms, which were thick with muscle and pale as death. “Noon, tomorrow.” 

“Noon,” Ben agreed, and watched as Rey left the lit kitchen. He wanted to follow her to get the door, but he knew that the slant of the sun would allow the light to pour into the foyer. Instead, he contented himself to watching her as she moved, purposefully and with lithe grace; he would see her again


	3. Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ever the suspicious type, Hux takes matters into his own hands, confronting Ben, a mistake he likely won’t learn from, even when he goes a step too far.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!! Sorry for the long time between updates! A lot has happened in the past few months, the best of which is the fact that I had a baby!! Hopefully as things settle more, I’ll be able to get onto a better update schedule :] Without further ado, here is chapter three!

“Cracking the vision, who said the motivation’s all wrong? Not your dicision, the detonation of a time bomb. Which way is up when your high is low? It’s time to find it, are you ready to go?” - ‘Adrenaline’ by Shinedown

“We have already searched that town,” Hux repeated through clenched teeth, his eyes narrowed to slits. “What would be the point of searching it yet again?”

“The last time we sent a search party out was three years ago,” Ben said evenly, adressing everyone at the conference table, but keeping his eyes locked with Hux’s. “I think it is more than safe to assume that the humans could have deduced this, and now consider it to be a secure place to hide from us. CLose enough to monitor our activity from the safety of an area that we have already marked clean.”

“His logic is sound, Armitage,” Phasma said, her once blue eyes also locked on Ben, filled with a mix of suspicion and admiration. “I for one can easily say that that is a plan I myself would suggest, were I still human and among them.” 

“We’ve been clearing the western sector for months now,” Hux argued vehemently. “Why the sudden change in direction? It makes no sense!” 

“Are you questioning my authority in the situation, Armitage?” Ben asked coolly, arching a dark eyebrow at the other man. “You aren’t the department head, here; your job is to acquire what I need to get the job done, nothing more. If you have a problem with my line of thinking, please feel free to take it up with Mr. Snoke; I’m sure he would be more than happy to hear why you’re attempting to undermine me once again.” 

“I only aim to understand your train of thought, Solo,” Hux said, though they both knew that it was a lie. Armitage wanted Ben’s position, plain and simple; having always been a ladder climber, Hux’s eventual goal was to head the company, and he didn’t care who he had to take down in order to get there. 

“And I have told you that I want to double back just to be sure that we aren’t being observed,” Ben said. “Phasma is right, it is exactly what I would do if I were in their shoes. Stay close enough to monitor our movements, and use a place that we have already cleared. Build it up, fortify it, make it a secure bunker.” 

Hux was quiet for a long time, very aware of the many sets of eyes that were boring into him. His naturally suspicious nature led him to believe that Ben was up to something, though he coun’t be sure as to what. He wondered, suddenly, if Ben had found out that his mother was part of the human resistance that they were currently hunting; if that were the case, Hux knew that Ben would be more than willing to commit treason in order to save her. 

“Very well,” Hux said, fighting to contain the sly smile that was trying to pull its way across his pinched face. “I will review the supply lists and ensure that everything is prepared for you and your team.” 

Ben felt a prickle of unease go up his spine; Hux was all too keen to simply give up, and Ben knew that meant trouble. Hux was sneaky, and a coward, never following through on a confrontation when there were people around to witness it. Ben knew that Hux would corner him and attempt to leverage him in some way, and he wondered if this time it would finally come to blows, secretly hoping that it would. 

“Thank you,” Ben said tersely, then he stood and left the room without another word, very aware of the fact that everyone was watching him go. Just before the door closed behind him, he heard the scrape of chairs on the floor that indicated that everyone was preparing to leave themselves. He didn’t care about anyone but Hux, who would no doubt be the first one out of the room, stomping down the hall to catch up to him. 

“Solo!” Hux called; Ben ignored him, continuing his path towards his office. “I’m talking to you!” 

“I can hear that,” Ben said, jerking his office door open and stepping inside, but before he could close it behind himself, Hux had snagged a hold of it and yanked it out of Ben’s hand. Ben paused to glower at the other man, then turned to go to the small fridge in the far left corner of the small room. 

“What sort of angle are you playing at?” Hux demanded. “We are supposed to be clearing the western sector, those were our orders!” 

“I won’t repeat myself, Armitage,” Ben said blandly, retrieving an opaque cylinder from the fridge before turning around. Hux sneered at the thing, already able to smell the animal blood that was contained within, a sickening stink that made him want to flinch back instinctively. 

“Yesterday you had no input on the eastern town,” Hux said. “Oddly suspicious that you would change directions once the plan to replenish the blood supply was revealed to you.” 

“Armitage, you get suspicious if the damn wind changes direction,” Ben said, already beyond bored with the confrontation.

“Don’t mock me,” Hux spat. “It’s well known that you’re such a damned bleeding heart for the humans, the proof of that is in your hands right now; which makes me wonder what may have changed your mind...”

“Get to the fucking point,” Ben snapped, his grip on the container of blood growing tight enough that his fingers dented the metal. 

“Who spoke to you, hmm?” Hux asked, pleased that he had been able to enrage Ben, as it meant that he was less apt to be able to hide his emotions. “What were you told that made you so damn determined that we go the other way?”

Ben kept his face neutral and said, “You’re delusional, you know that right? Constantly looking for evidence that isn’t there for something that hasn’t taken place. No one said anything to me, no one contacted me; I went home and poured over the data we have and concluded that it would be a good idea to back track.”

“No? I don’t believe that for a second,” Hux said slowly, a thin smile breaking out on his mouth. “What I think happened, Solo, is that you found out something that would hit you very close to home, so close in fact that you immediately began to insist we go the other way.”

Ben frowned then and was suddenly very sure that Hux knew something he didn’t, and had used the information to land way too close to the truth, but he couldn’t imagine what it might be. He had been nearly obsessive in making sure that he carried no trace of Rey’s scent on him, leaving the envelope with the hand drawn map at home, scrubbing even under his fingernails to make sure there was absolutely zero trace of her that a tracker might sniff out. Hux was no tracker, not even close, so what was he getting at?

“How long has it been since you’ve seen your mother, Solo?” Hux asked, and Ben felt as though he’d been punched. He bared his teeth and a low growl rumbled in his chest; Hux only laughed. “More than ten years would be my guess, fifteen at the very least. How long has your father been in the ground?”

“Watch yourself, Armitage,” Ben said in a dangerous tone, his eyes turning black with anger. “You’re playing a very dangerous game right now... One you will NOT win.”

“That just proves that my hunch was correct,” Hux said, only bothering to slightly widen his stance in a lazy defensive posture. He didn’t think that Ben would dare to lay a hand on him; he had no idea how wrong he was. “If you tell me the truth now, I will see to it that no one outside of this room ever knows and no harm will come to you. However, if you would prefer we do this the hard way, I will personally ensure your torture and execution for treason.” 

“You’re going to regret that threat,” Ben warned, setting the container of blood aside in preparation for a fight. 

“It wasn’t a threat, it was a promise,” Hux said, baring his teeth. “Tell me, where is mommy dearest hiding?”

Ben’s entire demeanor relaxed at Hux’s words, and he straightened up sharply while giving the ginger vampire a completely confused look. What did his mother have to do with any of this? He hadn’t spoken to her in years, for both of their sakes; why would Hux jump to the conclusion that he had, then?

“I haven’t spoken to my mother since my dad died; for all I know, she’s dead, too,” Ben stated, and Hux laughed. 

“Don’t play dumb with me, Solo,” Hux said. “Do you honestly expect me to believe that you suddenly decided to change directions on a whim? No, you and I both know that you’re doing this to protect her and the rebels she commands. Who else could have told you that she’s among the band of humans we’ve been tracking these passed few months?” 

Inwardly, Ben was completely stunned by this revelation; it had been his mother who had sent Rey and Rose, that was the only way that they could have found him as easily as they did. He realized that it also explained how certain Rey had seemed in her trusting him, and he secretly hoped that that was only half true. He was completely enamored by her, how beautiful and strong she was, so completely sure of herself and where she had placed her trust. He knew deep inside that he would never harm her, and had known this since he first laid eyes on her. 

On the outside, Ben bared his teeth again, their long points flashing threateningly at Hux as he said, “You’re digging at old wounds, Armitage; choose your next words very, VERY carefully. What’s possessed you into trying to leverage me with something so bold with no proof?”

“As if you had no clue,” Hux repeated, though he was beginning to feel slightly wary. Though he highly doubted Ben’s ignorance in his mother’s whereabouts, if in the slightest shot that he’d been wrong, then he had made a very grave mistake. “Leia has been the head of the rebellion that we’ve been hunting for YEARS; I always had my suspicions of you, Kylo, and now I think that I have been correct all along. You have always known, and have been feeding them information to aid them in their attempts to avoid capture. Simply pathetic, if you ask me. So powerful, immortal; what amazes me is that you had the balls to drain your own father dry yet are too much of a sobbing momma’s boy to - oomph!” 

Ben launched himself at Hux, colliding with the other vampire with a sick thud, bones fracturing in both bodies from the force. A furious snarl tore itself from between Ben’s teeth as he slammed Hux into the glass door behind them, crashing through in a shower of dark tinted glass. Hux threw his arms up in defense, a deep, chilling roar emitting from his chest as he fought off Ben’s assault; though the two were similar in height, Ben was a great deal larger than Hux was, and the ginger vampire knew that he had no real shot in a fight. 

Now terrified for his life, Hux was desperately trying to get out from under Ben’s bulk, thrashing and bucking to throw him off, but it was no use. Ben threw a staggering punch that collided with the side of Hux’s face with a sound like two boulders being slammed together, and Hux roared in fury. He knew that he had gone too far, and that Ben was hell bent on tearing his throat out, consequences be damned. 

“Kylo, STOP!” It was Phasma; she had rushed to break the fight apart, and now had Ben around his ribs, hauling backwards as hard as she could, her feet slipping on the broken glass. Ben couldn’t hear her over the rushing sound that had filled his ears; all he cared about was ripping into Hux’s windpipe. He saw that another office worker, one of the trackers maybe, had come to Hux’s aid and was attempting to drag him out from under Ben, and Ben lashed a fist out at him as well, sending him sprawling. 

“What is the meaning of this!” Another voice boomed in the hall, gravely with both fury and age. This time, Ben heard, and immediately stopped his attack, allowing Phasma to drag him off of Hux, who’s nose was bleeding, his jaw hanging at an unnatural angle, having been dislocated when Ben had landed a blow on him. 

Mr. Snoke, the head of the company, was standing at the mouth of the hall, his eyes blazing as he took in the sight of his top two employee’s fight. No one spoke at all; Ben, his chest still heaving with fury, was looking up at Snoke, mildly annoyed that he had put a stop to his attempt to murder Hux. The ginger, cupping his dangling jaw, was glaring at Ben with what could have been satisfaction. 

“Have you lost your ability to speak as well as your fucking minds?” Snoke demanded. “Kylo, your face is still in tact, now explain yourself!” 

“Armitage accused me of treason,” Ben said thickly, jerking his shoulders away from Phasma, who gave him a reproachful look but didn’t attempt to grab him again. 

“And you retaliate by acting like a wild animal?” 

“It was his manner of accusation that offended me,” Ben said, slowly standing up and plucking a shard of glass from his palm. “He insinuated that I was in contact with my mother, who up until this point I assumed to be dead.”

“That is your reason for flying into a rage?” Snoke asked in a clipped tone, darting his eyes to Hux, who was still seated on the floor and unable to speak. Realization colored Snoke’s grizzled features and he said, “No, it isn’t. Your mouth has finally gotten you into trouble with the wrong man, hasn’t it, Armitage?” 

Hux could only glower up at Snoke pathetically, as his jaw was unable to fuse back while it was hanging. Snoke rolled his eyes and jerked the ginger up to his feet by his arm; he then swatted Hux’s protective hand away from his face, cupped his jaw and slammed it back into place with a hollow socking sound. Hux roared in pain, stumbling back from Snoke’s grip, rubbing his face. 

“Speak,” Snoke said, crossing his arms. Hux shot another glare at Ben, slowly opened and closed his mouth to test that it was healing before speaking. 

“I insinuated that he’s too pathetic to feed off of his mother,” Hux’s voice was low and embarrassed; he hadn’t thought that he would have to repeat the low things he had been saying in front of an audience. “I believe... My exact words were something to the effect of saying that he had the balls to kill and feed from his own father, but was too much of a momma’s boy to kill her...” 

Hearing the words spoken again reignited Ben’s fury, but he forced himself not to react, knowing that Snoke would deal with him in a way that he saw fit. Snoke looked from one to the other, his eyes clouded with irritation as he thought over what to do with the two of them. 

Go home, both of you,” he snapped with finality, adding almost as an afterthought, “Today’s wages and rations are forfeit, and if anything like this mess happens again, it will result in immediate termination. Have I made myself clear?” 

“Yes sir,” Ben said first, straightening his jacket and meeting Snoke’s pericing eyes. He could feel Hux’s gaze on him and studiously ignored it, waiting to be dismissed before daring to move. 

“And you, Armitage?” Snoke asked, arching an eyebrow at the ginger, who jumped as if slapped. 

“Yes, sir, of course,” he mumbled, sounding at once humiliated and annoyed that his attempt to get under Ben’s skin had gone so awry. 

“Good. Now clean this mess up,” Snoke said, gesturing to the glass riddled floor. “And know that the cost for its repair will also come from your wages.” 

Turning to go, and to hide his smirk, Ben knew that that last part hadn’t been aimed at him, but Hux alone. As much as he wanted to continue instructing Hux in the ways of respect, he decided that his early dismissal was for the best, as it meant that he would have plenty of time to think over the fact that, not only was he going to see Rey again, he was also going to be reunited with his mother. 

***

Hux seethed with distaste as he watched Ben stride away down the hall; he could tell by the cock of his shoulders that he was likely smirking to himself with satisfaction over his punishment. He bared his teeth in continued fury, still completely convinced that Ben was up to something, and a sudden idea struck him. 

If Ben truly was plotting something treasonous, why not let it play out? Let him think he had won this round, and follow him, then he would have his proof. And then... Yes, THEN he would see Ben executed for the traitorous bastard that he was, watch him scream and writhe as the sun cooked first his skin, then the flesh and bone beneath until nothing was left but a pile of smoldering ashes. 

Armitage Hux smirked and chuckled to himself as he swept the shards of glass into a haphazard pile, thinking to himself how absolutely sweet his revenge would be.

***

At a quarter passed noon, Ben still hadn’t shown, and Rey had begun to worry to herself, not thinking that he had betrayed them, but rather that he had changed his mind, that he didn’t really want to help them. 

“Stop that,” Rose said, not unkindly, and Rey turned to her with a curious look. Rose was standing on the edge of the inside of the car door, one arm slung over the open door and the other draped on the roof of the car. Rey thought that she looked a lot like Sarah Connor in that robot movie she hadn’t paid much attention to. “You know what I’m talking about; he said he would be here, and you told me yourself that you could tell that he meant it. So stop worrying so much.” 

Rey gave Rose what she hoped was a reassuring smile before turning to stare up the road again, chewing on her lip idly. She still believed that Ben would show, she was mostly worried that the half hour that she warned about would pass too quickly for him to arrive. Finn and Rose would enforce that timetable, Rey knew, but she couldn’t fathom how to explain to them just why she wanted to extend it. 

She couldn’t even explain to herself why she felt so drawn to him, as if he were the stars and moon on a cool, clear night, a sight she hadn’t seen safely in years. She had dreamed of him for the passed few nights, the touch of his cool fingertips on her own skin, like water on a fire; she would wake in an aroused state that no man had ever been able to bring to her before, the ache in her sex needing to be quelled, but her own hands working herself to release couldn’t calm it. 

Glancing at her battered watch, she saw that there were only five minutes left in the window they had set aside. Biting her lip, she was turning to emplore Finn to add some extra time when a flash of sunlight glinted off of an object in the distance. Her heart began to hammer in her chest as the thing came closer by the second; she knew it was a vehicle even before the shape was close enough to pick out details, and her heart soared. He had come after all. 

Walking briskly and forcing herself not to run, Rey moved to meet him several yards out from the tree that Rose and Finn had parked their car under. Up close, she recognized the old Camero, sleek and shiny black, all of the windows blacked out against the sunshine that beat down on the dry open field. The car halted, idling with a low rumbling sound, and Rey made eye contact with the camera lense that was mounted on top of the car just above the windshield. 

“You came,” she said breathlessly; the engine revved briefly, indicating his acknowledgment of her statement. “Come on, it’s safe under the tree.” 

Without pausing, Rey turned and started back towards the shade, nodding at Rose, who had popped her head around the massive cloth tarp that they had tied among the branches to provide adequate cover for Ben. Rose gave a quick thumbs up before disappearing behind the canvas again. When Rey reached the shade, she turned and leaned against the back of the SUV, waiting for Ben to park. 

The engine cut, and a second later, the driver’s side door popped open, and Ben turned in the seat to kick his long legs out and stand up to his full height. Rey’s breath caught in her throat, but only Ben noticed, darting his amber eyes to meet hers and giving her a slight, knowing smile. 

“Glad you could make it,” Finn said, drawing Ben’s attention away from Rey. Finn was seated up on one of the lower branches of the old oak tree, arms crossed yet his posture was completely relaxed. “For a second there, I wasn’t sure if you would.” 

“I haven’t had to read a map and drive at the same time in a while,” Ben said, holding up the piece of paper that Rey had given him. 

“That’s understandable,” Finn said, smiling now as he slid down from the branch, landing with a solid thud on the earth below him. When he stood upright, he immediately approached Ben and held out his hand, which the vampire took firmly and without hesitation. “Finley Dameron, but you can call me Finn for short.” 

“Ben Solo,” Ben replied before looking towards the girls. “Rose, Rey, good to see you both again.” 

“Likewise,” Rose said a little stiffly, though she did mean it. 

“So, you must be wondering why you’re here,” Finn said, leaning against the trunk of the tree. 

“Only a little bit,” Ben said jokingly, shutting his car door and leaning against it. Rey observed how calm he was, the muscles in his arms languid under his dark green crew neck shirt, managing to look deadly yet completely at ease. “Rey mentioned that it was something of importance, hence the meeting time and place.” 

“She wasn’t wrong,” Finn said. “You weren’t followed, I trust.” 

“No.” 

“Good, then we can get down to business,” Finn said, clapping his hands together. “As you well know, humans are being hunted and farmed to near extinction. Now, I don’t know what the vampire’s plan is to combat that, but we’ve got one better and it’s crucial that you understand the severity of the situation.” 

“As someone who knows their plan in intimate detail, I can assure you that I do,” Ben said. “What is it that you have in mind?”

“A cure for the virus.” 

“That’s not possible,” Ben said, frowning at the black man. “We’ve tried it, several times, and we haven’t found a way that would come even close to what you might call a cure.” 

“It is possible, and I’m proof of that,” Finn said, reaching up to pull down the collar of his shirt, revealing a bite scar on his neck just above his right collar bone. “Used to be a vamp, but not anymore.” 

Ben’s eyes went wide, and he stood up off of the car to approach Finn without pausing to see if it was alright; his curiosity suddenly outweighed his care for being a monster around humans. Finn didn’t flinch at all, even leaning closer and tilting his head to the side to give Ben a better view. Sure enough, two small scars marked his neck where he had been bitten and subsequently turned. 

“How did you do that?” Ben asked, his low voice thick with awe, and a note of hope. 

“That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” Finn said. “It was a complete accident, honestly, but we haven’t been able to recreate it, for obvious reasons. But now, we have you with us...” 

“You want to try and turn me back?” Ben asked, sounding skeptical but immensely overjoyed. Rey could see in his eyes that he must have longed for a way out for years, and now, here was his chance... If it didn’t kill him in the attempt. 

“That’s the general idea, yes,” Finn said. 

Absently, Rey moved to survey the area, a habit that had been ground into her since the vampires came into power. She didn’t think that anyone would be there, but it didn’t hurt to check, as there was a known band of trackers after them. When Rey rounded the massive trunk of the tree, she was caught with a nasty surprise. 

Hiding just behind the canvas, was a tall figure dressed in a jet black UV suit, not an inch of skin showing: a tracker. Before Rey could raise the alarm, the man’s arm shot out and he clapped his gloved hand over her mouth, pinning her roughly to the tree. 

“Best not to scream,” he said, his voice coming out mechanical and hollow through the speaker system in his helmet. In a swift motion, he yanked Rey into him and pressed the barrel of his gun up under her jaw, then side stepped into the view of Rose, Finn and Ben, who had all looked around at the sound of the new voice. Ben’s eyes instantly turned black with rage when he saw Rey being held at gunpoint; he KNEW who was under that mask. “Not interrupting anything, am I?”

“Let her go, Armitage,” Ben snarled, baring his teeth, his hands balling into fists at his sides. 

“What are you planning to do about it, hmmm?” Hux answered, sneering behind the mask. “Move an inch and you both die, simple as that.” 

Ben growled, a terrible sound that made goosebumps rise on Rey’s arms; here was the monster, cloaked in terrific fury at the fact that she was in danger. Rey momentarily felt her stomach light up with butterflies before the man holding her began to drag her backwards into full daylight, and far from Ben’s reach. 

“Let her GO!” Ben ordered; behind him, Rose and Finn had moved into a defensive flanking maneuver, weapons drawn in preparation for the fight. Ben heard them moving, but kept his eyes trained on Hux and Rey, who looked surprisingly calm considering her situation. “This is between you and me, Armitage; leave them out of it.” 

“You’re right about one thing,” Hux said lightly. “It is between the two of us, but you have with you two females who appear to be of child bearing age and just what we’re looking for. I would hate to waste one of them, but if you press me, she will die and you will shortly follow, so listen carefully. You will take the other woman in your car, I will take this one in mine, and we shall return to Snoke. You will face the consequences and neither of these women will be harmed, you have my word. Do I make myself clear?”

Rose tensed up behind Ben, he could hear her heart skip a beat when Hux ordered him to take her. He cast a quick, reassuring glance back to her before looking back to Hux and saying, “I’ll die first.” 

“Have it your way.” 

Hux shifted the gun at Rey’s throat and began firing at the canvas that had been hung up to provide shade for Ben, cutting it down swiftly. Sunlight poured over the three of them, and Ben cried out as his flesh began to burn, throwing his arms up in a useless attempt to protect himself. 

Moving quickly, Rose yanked her jacket off and rushed towards Ben, draping the fabric over his head as best she could, then half dragging him back towards the safety of the shade. She looked up at Finn who had taken off after Hux and Rey as the vampire had begun to drag her away, kicking and thrashing the entire time. 

Rose yanked the door of Ben’s car open, jerked the seat forward and shoved him inside, trying not to gag at the smell of burning flesh. Ben fought her for a second, but she placed a small, booted foot into his chest and shoved him back down. 

“REY!” He yelled, pulling the jacket free of his head, revealing the already healing burn wound on the right side of his face. 

“She’s fine!” Rose snapped, standing in Ben’s way. “Finn is helping her; right now you can’t, not without killing yourself so just stay here where it’s safe for you, alright?” 

Ben’s amber eyes widened in momentary surprise, but he nodded his conceit and scooted back from the door. Rose noticed that he had begun to tremble all over, though from anger or pain, she couldn’t say. 

“Stay here, I’ll be right back,” she said, softer this time, and disappeared from Ben’s view to aid Finn and Rey. She came around in time to see the tracker take one hell of a gut check from Rey as she slammed her elbow back into his torso. The tracker only half released her, but his slack arm made enough space for Rey to spin around, grasp a hold of his shoulders for leverage and slam her knee up between his legs. 

The vampire went down with a mechanical cry, both hands clutching between his legs as he hit his knees in the dirt. Rey hauled back and fetched a jarring kick to the side of his head, her boot making a cracking sound as it connected with the helmet, sending Hux sprawling. Satisfied with the mewling cries of pain, Rey spun and began to sprint back towards the tree, and upon seeing that the tarp was down, her heart lurched as she realized that Ben didn’t have cover. 

Behind her, unseen, Hux jabbed at a button on his wrist, turning on a small communicator which he spoke into gruffly, saying, “Move in! NOW!” 

Rey reached Finn, who grabbed her arm and began running back with her, catching a glimpse of puffing dust that meant at least one more vehicle was coming. Cursing to himself, he picked up the pace until they almost ran smack into Rose, whose wide eyes were fixed on the two approaching vehicles. 

“Shit!” She yelled. “Two tracking vehicles, Finn.”

“I know, I know!” Finn said, sounding anxious as they all reached the sleek black car. 

“Ben?” Rey asked breathlessly, her hazel eyes imploring Rose, who gave her a stiff smile. 

“He’s fine,” she assured Rey, grabbing her shoulder and shoving her towards the passenger side door. “In the back, come on.” 

Rey didn’t hesitate to slide into the back seat, barking the sensitive bone on her right ankle as she yanked her legs in. She ground her teeth against the pain and yanked the front seat upright so Rose could get in, hearing gun shots begin to snap through the air. Rey turned to find Ben looking intently at her, relief coloring his features, softening them; Rey’s heart skipped a beat as she realized how beautifully handsome he was, and more importantly that he was okay.

“Did he hurt you?” Ben muttered, reaching out to brush Rey’s cheekbone with his thumb, feeling her jump slightly at the chill of his hand. 

“No, not at all,” Rey said, smiling. “I think I did a number on him though.” 

“I hate to interrupt but where are the damn keys!” Finn said, twisting in the seat to look at Ben, who produced them from his pants pocket and handed them over. “Is this thing fast?” 

“Depends on your definition of fast,” Ben said, frowning slightly. Rapid gunshots rang out, one of them striking the roof of the vehicle with a loud TING noise. “Fast enough if you get a head start.” 

Finn jammed the key into the ignition and twisted it, bringing the engine to life with a roar. He dropped the car into drive and stomped on the gas hard, causing the rear wheels to spin out, kicking gravel and dirt up in a spray. 

“Rey, give me your gun,” Rose said, reaching to the back expectantly. Rey pulled her side arm from a holster and passed it forward without hesitation as Finn whipped the car in a turn that threw her to the side and into Ben, who let out a huff of air as her weight struck him. 

“Sorry,” Rey said. “Forgot my seat belt.” 

“There aren’t any back here,” Ben said, throwing his arm out to pin Rey to the seat as Finn went through another turn. “Who the hell taught you how to drive?” 

“Hey, I’m doing the best I can here,” Finn said, keeping his eyes on the display on the windshield. “There are two really fast vehicles on our asses, and they are currently shooting at us with bigger guns than we have.” 

As if to emphasize Finn’s point, four bullets shot through the back window, leaving wide holes through which sun poured. Ben flinched back from them and was effectively pinned to the interior of the car, his amber eyes wide as the beams tracked towards him while Finn maneuvered the car. 

“Agh! Shit!” Ben yelped as sunlight struck his arms and face, sizzling immediately. Without hesitation, Rey put herself between Ben and the rear window, grabbed a hold of the front of his shirt and forced him to his back on the floor boards. 

“I need to return fire,” Rose said, her voice oddly calm considering the situation, and she stripped her shirt off, tossing it at Rey. “Cover him!” 

Rey took the baggy shirt and spread it out, realized that it wasn’t quite big enough and glanced around the back of the cab for something bigger. She spied the jacket that Rose had been wearing, snatched it up and threw it over her own head and shoulders before diving on top of Ben as Rose rolled down her window, spilling more light inside. Rose leaned most of the way out of the window, heedless of the bullets coming at her, and began to return fire. 

Under the jacket, Ben and Rey were pressed face to face, both breathing heavily. Rey could feel the chill of his skin even through her own clothing, smell the light, heady scent of his skin mixed with what she assumed was his soap. She found herself wanting to plunge her fingers into the raven silk of his hair, to kiss him right then and there while they lay in their own dark world. 

Ben’s thirst roared to life as he drowned in the sweet, wonderful scent of Rey’s hair and skin, the heat of her body stirring up desire in his blood. He looped one arm around the small of her back and pressed her tighter into him without pausing to consider that it might frighten her. Rey let out a small gasp, but that was all; gently, Ben brushed her cheek with his other hand, watching as her pupils dilated. 

“You’re so warm,” he whispered, seeming awestruck as he traced from her cheek down to the curve of her jaw, making her shiver. Then, without realizing he was going to, he asked, “Why aren’t you like the others? Why don’t you fear me?” 

“You’re not like the rest,” Rey whispered softly, leaning into his hand and daring to close her eyes. “I haven’t been afraid of you since I pulled the trigger the other night... I don’t even think I would have done it if I had taken the time to really look and see that you weren’t going to harm us.”

The car jolted again and the sound of exploding glass rang outside of their small dark haven, and Rey felt the hot sun on the back of her calves. 

“Shit!” She heard Rose curse, then add, “Stay under there as long as you can guys, the back window is out.” 

Beneath her, Ben wriggled and a hiss escaped between his teeth; when he saw Rey’s suddenly alarmed face, he said, “My ankles!” 

“Rose! We need more cover down here!” Rey shouted, doing her best to find his ankles by feel alone and provide what little cover she could manage as the sickening smell of burning flesh began wafting under their cover. 

Rose swore again, not hearing Rey very well but glancing into the back seat at the smell of charring. Desperately, she glanced around the cab for anything she could use to help them, but found nothing. 

“Finn,” she said, pausing to return fire for a few bursts. “I know you’re busy saving our asses, but, uh, can I get you to give me your jacket?”

Finn cast her a quick, near incredulous look before holding his arm out to her; she grasped the hem of his sleeve and tugged, allowing him to slip his arm free while keeping one on the wheel. Once his arm was free, he repeated the motion with his other arm, wiggling his shoulders to help scoot it off. Once she got it free, Rose leaned into the back and tossed it over Ben’s ankles, then sat back up to regain her position perched in the passenger window. 

“Hang on!” Finn shouted, steering the vehicle towards an old, worn down rail road track that went over a deep ravine. Finn ground his teeth, trying to gauge the gap and line the tires up with the railing; the stability of them looked dubious at best, but he knew that he had to try. Better to die on their own terms than the vampire’s. 

The car struck them with teeth rattling forces and only the driver’s side tires in contact with the rails, but they had enough momentum to keep them skidding along them to the other side. The jolt of making contact with the other side slammed Ben and Rey into the counter console and undersides of the front seats, causing Rey to grunt in pain and press her forehead into Ben’s chest in an attempt to cushion the force. 

“Are you okay?” Ben asked immediately, sliding his hand down to where her hip had struck toe console, all thoughts of being slow about physical contact forgotten. 

“Yeah,” Rey said sounding breathless; the chill of Ben’s hand felt good, and not just because it was almost like an ice pack on a bruise. “Just a bruise.”

They both jumped when a sudden explosion tore through the air, shortly followed by both Finn and Rose’s whoops of excitement. 

“Look’s like we’re in the clear,” Finn said, grinning at Rose. “You guy’s alright back there?”

“Doing good,” Rey said, laughing as she felt all of the tension leave her body and she collapsed entirely over Ben’s wide frame. The combination of released tension and having Rey’s body on his caused heat to coil low in Ben’s belly, and he resisted the urge to shift to hide his obvious arousal, lest he make the situation worse. 

“We’ll find a place to pull over and shield the rear window as soon as possible,” Rose said, relaxing down into her seat with a tired sigh.


	4. Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a heart pounding escape, the foursome continues on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rather short chapter, it’s a set up chapter for the story to continue. Sorry again for the time it took to post an update! Adjusting to having a new baby is something else, let me tell you lol But now that I’ve got baby all settled and a routine down, hopefully I should have a more consistent update schedule in place. Enjoy!!

“I was looking for a breath of life, a little touch of heavenly light, but all the choirs in my head sang no. To get a dream of life again, a little vision of the start and the end, but all the choirs in my head sang no.” - ‘Breath of Life’ by Florence and the Machine

“That’s going to take forever to fix,” Ben said grudgingly as he surveyed the damage done to his dad’s car, running a hand over the dings and scratches on the paint where bullets, rocks and other debris had struck. The worst of the damage appeared to be the back window though, being completely shattered out; Ben was stunned that neither Finn or Rose had been hit by whatever had taken it out. 

“We have a body shop,” Rose said, joining Ben in admiring the old thing. “Either Rey or myself could help you with it, though Rey is more inclied towards the electrical systems than body work.” 

Ben’s eyes darted to Rey who was scavenging anything she could find in the run down old shop they had found for anything of use. So far she had managed to find a store of canned goods and bottled water that miraculously hadn’t been raided.

The four of them had sought refuge in the shop, which was an old truck stop turned car graveyard, as soon as Finn had decided that they had put enough distance between them and the lone surviving tracking vehicle. Darkness had fallen an hour before, allowing Ben to move freely throughout the skeletons of cars in hopes of finding a tarp of some sort to cover the back window. When he found nothing he deemed useful to himself, he began punching out windows to look for anything that the humans might need, finding three first aid packs, five half full jugs of motor oil, a shopping bag filled with batteries of all sizes, and one flashlight that looked as though it had seen better days. He brought his findings to Rey for her approval, and she favored him with a bright smile that made his blood hot. 

“Thank you,” she said, checking the first aid kits first and finding a small pack that contained a silvery fire blanket. “Do you think this would work for the back window?” 

“If not, we can put him out with it,” Finn joked from the end of the isle where he and Rose were sorting canned food. 

“I like the way you think,” Ben replied before taking the blanket from Rey, purposely touching her fingertips when he did so. He felt like a child trying to learn how to flirt doing it; he was a grown man, he knew how to flirt and how to kiss and have sex, so it baffled him how he was so enamored with her to the point he had regressed to such simple behavior. When he saw Rey blush, however, he felt better about it, at least for a time; he had been badly burned earlier, and that on top of having missed a mid day ‘feeding’ -if you could call it that- had his thirst awake and roaring at him to feed. Pushing the thought from his mind, he said, “I don’t see why it wouldn’t work, but maybe a backup is a good idea until I can get a new UV panel for it.” 

“I found a few tarps,” Rey said, indicating a pile of plastic tarping to Ben’s left. “They’re not cloth like the last one we had, but it’s better than nothing.” 

“That works,” Ben said, crouching down and sorting through the sack of batteries he had found, tossing aside any that were rusted out or leaking acid, heedless of the burning the latter did do his fingers. “Is there anything else we should look for before we go?” 

“We’ve scrounged a lot of the camping items,” Rey said, tilting her head to look at the isle markers that hung from the ceiling, exposing her neck in a way that struck Ben hard, making his jaw ache as his teeth elongated, demanding that he sink them into that soft skin. His thirst urging him to take hold of her and slake his need with her hot, red blood. He hadn’t been aware that he was staring until Rey looked back to him and gave him a quizzical look. Feeling a rush of sudden guilt and shame, Ben averted his eyes away from Rey, hiding the fact that they had turned pitch black from hunger. “Ben... How long has it been since you fed?”

Swallowing hard, Ben forced himself to meet her eyes knowing that his were still coal black with hunger. Rey didn’t flinch at the sight, rather a look of firm resolve crossed her lovely features and she got to her feet, drawing a slim boot knife from a concealed holster. Ben frowned as she knelt in front of him, then flinched back in horror as she placed the edge of the blade on her palm before he reached out to stop her, pulling her hands apart to prevent her from cutting herself. 

“Absolutely not,” he said in a low tone. 

“Ben, you NEED to feed,” Rey said, gently pulling her hands free of his, but before she could attempt to cut her palm again, Ben grasped her shoulders firmly. 

“Rey, NO,” Ben said, a note of desperation edging his voice. “I don’t - I CAN’T feed on human blood; I can’t let you do this, Rey.”

“Ben,” she said softly, keeping her eyes locked with his. “You were hurt bad today, and I know you heal quickly, but I also know that you need blood to do so. Please, let me help you...”

Ben ground his teeth and released her wrists, but just before she cut her palm, he asked, “If you insist on this... Can you, maybe, bleed into a cup? It... I think it would be safer for you if I didn’t have the opportunity to bite you.”

“Yeah, I can do that,” Rey said softly, standing to get a small Dixie cup from the meager pile she had put together a little ways up the isle. Rose and Finn gave her a quizzical look, and Rey shook her head to warn them not to intervene; Finn saw the knife and paper cup and immediately understood, giving her a nod in return. 

Wordlessly, Rey went back to Ben and knelt down, noting the tension that coiled through his body at her proximity, wondering what his hunger pains must be like. She thought that if it was anything like the ones she had suffered through, then she understood his discomfort, at least a little bit. Gingerly, she set the cup down onto the floor so that she could bring the knife to her palm again, glancing up at Ben as if to assure him that she was okay with what she had offered. 

Slowly and smoothly, Rey drew the sharp blade across the flesh of her hand, biting back a hiss of pain as blood began to well into her cupped palm. Moving carefully, she plucked up the paper cup and tipped her hand over it, allowing her blood to drip in, making small tapping sounds as each drop struck the bottom. She heard Ben take a sharp inhale of breath, and began to flex her fingers to encourage the flow, hoping to speed the process along for his sake. 

When the tiny cup was half full, Rey clenched her hand into a fist to staunch the flow of blood while handing it to Ben, who grimaced as he took it, though there was a glint of appreciation in his black eyes. Keeping his eyes averted, Ben brought the cup to his lips and drank as slowly as he could manage, suddenly realizing just how badly he had needed it. 

Like cool water on scorched earth, Rey’s blood soothed the burning ache that his hunger had caused, washing over his tongue in a sweet flood. Ben suppressed a moan at how wonderful she tasted, sweet as honey and morning dew on a spring day, the effect became two fold as he drank, awakening another need in him. His thirst demanded more, and his desire bloomed like sunlight in his heart, coiling low in his abdomen, even more demanding than his thirst was. Ben’s eyes flashed to Rey’s, and as she watched him with curiosity, the mental image of making love to her while he fed came to him. He had never fed during sex before, had never felt the desire to, but with her the thought took on a meaning beyond animal pleasure. 

“Better?” Rey asked when Ben had drained the cup, resisting the urge to dip his fingers in and lick them clean. 

“Yes,” he said softly, a note of shame tinging his voice. “I should be fine for a while now, I think.” 

“Don’t hesitate to ask me if you need it again,” Rey said firmly, fixing him with a resolved look. “We don’t have animals in our settlement; better that I bleed a little bit than, well...” 

Ben grimaced as she trailed off, not needing her to articulate what she meant. He reached for one of the med kits and searched inside for some gauze and medical tape, then reached out for Rey’s cut hand, which she gave to him without hesitation, allowing him to examine the cut. It was deep enough that it would no doubt scar, just shy of needing stitches, but he didn’t have the supplies at hand to do sutures. 

“If you have supplies at your base camp,” he said, twisting the cap off of a water bottle and rinsing her wound. “I can stitch this for you. It’s going to scar either way but at least it won’t be open to the air.” 

“We’ll have to see,” Rey said, savoring the cool touch of his strong hands as he delicately cleaned and began to bandage her hand. “We might have something, but I’m not the one to ask.” 

As Ben worked, Rey marveled at how he focused, moving with a gentle grace that belied the strength she knew he was capable of. When he was satisfied that the cut had been thoroughly flushed, he tore open a single sterile pad and pressed it onto her palm, then began to wind a length of coban around her hand to hold it secure. 

“That should do it,” he said with satisfaction, though he didn’t release her hand, and she didn’t move to take it back from him, instead gripping his firmly, telling herself that maybe it was because of how good the chill of his skin felt on the now aching cut, but she knew it was a lie. 

When she met his eyes, Rey was happy to see that the amber color had returned, and that his pupils were blown wide with a desire she thought only she was feeling. She knew that he wanted to kiss her by the way his gaze kept darting to her mouth, an action she unconsciously mirrored, unaware that she was leaning into him until they were a hair’s breadth apart, both breathing heavily. 

Gently, Ben reached up and tucked a stray lock of hair behind Rey’s ear, then cupped the back of her neck, loving the heat of her body more and more with each passing second. Somehow sensing that he wouldn’t close the distance, Rey tilted her chin towards him and brought their mouths together in a feather light kiss, both knowing that anything more would lead to a situation that neither wanted company for. 

Reluctantly, Ben was the one to pull back first, gently pressing his forehead into Rey’s before leaning back all the way, seeing the same longing mixed with disappointment on her face. He offered her a small, apologetic smile, hoping that she understood why he had broken the kiss; thankfully, she seemed to. 

The drive to the encampment had been nearly four hours long, even with Finn driving at nearly twice the speed limit, something Rose teased him about mercilessly, citing that speed limits weren’t really a thing anymore. 

In the back seat, Rey had dozed, leaning her head on Ben’s shoulder until a rather vicious pot hole had rocked her awake, grumbling about how Finn was a shit driver. Smirking, Ben drew her closer to him, allowing her to get comfortable and sleep some more, and draping Finn’s jacket over her to keep her as warm as possible against the chill of his body. Rey didn’t seem to mind how cold he was, laying her head on his massive thigh and pulling her legs up onto the bench seat, allowing her to lay comfortably on her side; she was snoring softly again in minutes. 

“You know Leia?” Ben asked, mildly surprised that he had spoken at all. Finn glanced at him in the rear view while Rose turned in her seat to face him, giving him a nod. 

“Yes,” she said. “She’s our leader, I guess you could say. A lot of people rallied around her, and under her guidance, we’ve managed to elude the trackers for a long time, not losing even a single person to them. At least, not from our original group... A few caravans of survivors have been set upon, but I guess that’s to be expected. Do you know her?” 

“You could say that,” Ben mused, gathering that none of them knew who he was, except maybe Rey. “She’s my mother.” 

Rose’s eyes went wide with surprise at his words, searching his face for traces of resemblance no doubt as a smile spread across her own. 

“Of course,” she said softly. “‘Solo’ is her married name...”

“She uses my dad’s surname now?” Ben asked, recalling that she had kept her maiden name for the majority of his life at his dad’s insistence. 

“Only to those she holds in closest council,” Finn said. “The general populace still knows her only as Organa; guess she’s kind of riding the power of that name, at least a little bit.” 

Ben bristled only slightly at the comment, knowing that Finn didn’t mean it offensively. His mother had been in the political field all his life, and even some time before he was born, so it only made sense that she use a name that everyone was more familiar with, even though it was public knowledge who her husband had been. 

“She started using the last name ‘Solo’ shortly after he died,” Rose said, unaware of how Han had come to his end. “She said it was to honor her husband and her son; I don’t know how I didn’t make that connection before.” 

“I doubt my mother likes to talk about it much,” Ben said. “And if she picked up anything from my father, she likely doesn’t keep pictures or sentimental things?” 

“She has a locket, but that’s about it,” Rose said, touching her own necklace, unthinking. “I think she must have a picture in there, but I never ask about it; we all have something that reminds us of our past that we keep close at hand. For me, it’s this; my sister had the match.” 

Rose proffered the necklace, and Ben observed it with a keen eye, noting the pattern that was etched into the metal, and nodding in understanding. 

“It’s beautiful,” he said, and Rose blushed lightly as she clenched her fist around the pendant. “This car was my dad’s... And the dice that are hanging on the rear view; my mom insisted that I keep them after my dad died...” 

“Han was a hero,” Rose said reverently, unknowingly prodding at a sore spot for Ben, but he didn’t dissuade her of her belief; she didn’t need to know that the reason Han had died was sitting in the back seat with them. “You are too, you know.”

“No,” Ben protested, shaking his head and grinding his teeth together. “I’m not a hero; I lead most of the raids that took out your caravans...” 

“True,” Rose said. “But you’re here, aren’t you? Prepared to risk your life for a group of humans; you betrayed your own people to do that, Ben, and that takes courage.” 

“I’m not sure I see how committing treason is heroic, that’s all,” Ben said. 

“You were prepared to risk your life for us,” Rose insisted, then pointed to Rey. “For her; I had to literally kick you to make you stay down in the safety of the shade. I saw the look in your eyes, you were ready to die to save her.” 

“I would call that being a damn fool,” Ben said, smiling softly. “But if you insist, thank you; I know it has taken a lot for you to trust me in this.” 

“The benefit outweighs the risks,” Rose said thoughtfully. “For both sides... I never apologized for how I acted the other day, I was out of line and shouldn’t have snapped at you like that.”

“No harm done,” Ben said, giving her a reassuring smile. “Anxiety takes many forms, trust me, I know. I can’t begin to imagine the effect of seeing your sister die has on you; you have every right not to trust me.” 

“No,” Rose said, shaking her head. “I have every reason to trust you now; you’ve had multiple opportunities to harm us, but you haven’t. Shit, you were even willing to stay in pain in order to keep abstaining from human blood.” 

“Rey was right though, that could have caused more trouble than it was worth.” 

“My point still stands, and you know it.” 

Knowing that he had been beat, Ben chuckled and nodded to her, saying, “Alright, if you insist.”


	5. Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben comes home!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry it’s been so long since my last update! I am still learning how to balance a new baby with writing and posting my updates! Hope you like it! Maybe some NSFW coming up ;]

“I’m coming home, I’m coming home, tell the world that I’m coming home. Let the rain wash away all the pain of yesterday.” -‘Coming Home’ by Skylar Gray

Leia paced the floor at a pace she hoped looked patient and expectant rather than one full of the anxiety that she was truly feeling. She knew that Finn and the others were projected to return after dark, hopefully with her son in tow, but the darkness seemed to mock her; vampires could come out in the night, and while the thought of Ben betraying them never crossed her mind, the idea that HE could have been double crossed had. She knew that they had trackers, and damn good ones at that; Han had been able to gather only minimal information about them before he died, but it was enough to make her blood run cold. 

The trackers, code named Knights of Ren by the Empire corporation, was a team of six elite killers who had been hand chosen for their hunting abilities and weapons expertise, skills that it was rumored they were known for as humans. Before the takeover, they had been selected, turned and then trained to lethal capability, able to track a human path weeks after the prey had passed, or so Leia had heard. It was at the hand of these men that her husband and son had been ambushed, shortly after Ben had been turned by force; Leia squeezed her eyes shut at the memory as it came to her, unbidden. 

“He’s our son,” Leia had insisted, urging Han to keep the meeting with Ben after he had managed to get word to them, wanting to see them one last time before breaking contact forever. 

“I know,” Han said, giving a sad smile to his wife, knowing just how much it was breaking her heart to know that he was lost to them forever. 

They couldn’t have known that Ben was being used as bait, had no way of realizing that he had been held in a cell for over a month, starved within an inch of madness so that when he was released near them, his first and only instinct might be to kill. 

Han noticed that something wasn’t right first, holding a hand up to warn Leia not to tread closer as he carefully moved towards his son, who was crouched on the ground and panting like a winded animal. His fingers were knotted into his own hair, yanking hard, and he was making a keening sound that caused goosebumps to break out all over Han’s body. 

“Ben?” Han asked, sounding more certain than he felt. Of course this was his son, but WAS it, truly? Something didn’t seem right, he felt as though he were in dangerous proximity to a predator and every fiber of his being was screaming at him to flee, but he refused. This was Ben, his only son, and he needed help. “Ben.”

The hunched figure that was his son started at the second calling of his name, snapping his gaze over his shoulder towards his father, who sucked in a shocked breath between his teeth. Ben was deathly pale, his skin looking waxy and sallow, stretched too tightly over his bones, his gums were receding from his teeth, which were elongated and sharp as needles, and his eyes... That was the most jarring to Han, seeing his son’s eyes, once a soft green-brown, were now a startling orange-amber that seemed to glow from within. 

Ben was on him in the blink of an eye, launching himself at inhuman speed towards his father, slamming into him and knocking him to the ground. Han didn’t fight it as he felt his son’s teeth sink into the flesh of his shoulder, tearing and lapping at the blood like a crazed beast. Instead, Han craned his neck to meet his wife’s tear filled eyes, giving a shake of his head to ward her off from stopping him. He knew that his son was dying and needed help; he would do anything for his boy, now a man turned savage beast, but still his son. If Leia could get away, the resistance would be safe, and that was what mattered after the well being of Ben. 

Leia nodded her understanding and retreated back into the darkness, but didn’t flee entirely, instead willing herself to stay and witness her husbands last act of selfless love for their son. 

Han reached up and placed a shaking hand on his son’s raven hair in a comforting gesture, taking joy in the familiarity of it’s feel and familiar scent, the same as when he was a baby and little boy. Han’s movement jarred Ben, and he flinched back with a threatening snarl, his eyes coal black with hunger; Han smiled at him sadly. 

“Hey son,” he said, feeling a hot itching begin to spread from the bite wound on his shoulder that could only be the change beginning to take hold. “It’s alright, you’re hurting...”

“Dad?” Ben’s voice shook with what seemed to be confusion but was in fact pure horror at what he had done. “No, oh god no!” 

Ben gripped his father’s shoulders and jerked him into a sitting position, clamping a firm hand down on the bite wound to staunch the bleeding as best he could, though he knew that it would knit itself together soon as the change took hold. The thought horrified Ben beyond belief, and guilt sank it’s teeth into his heart at the fact that it was his own fault. 

“Ben,” Han said calmly, reaching up to place his hand on Ben’s face. “It’s okay, they set us both up... This isn’t your fault.” 

“They...” Ben said slowly as the memories came back to him, now that his head was clear after feeding. “Mom? The others?” 

“They’re fine, everyone is safe,” Han said, grimacing at the fire that was racing it’s way down his right arm. “And now, so are you.” 

“Dad, you’ll change,” Ben said, his now amber eyes widening at the bite wound, his hand coming up to wipe his father’s blood from his mouth. “This is all my fault.” 

“No!” Han said firmly, gripping Ben’s shoulders and shaking him for emphasis. “No, Ben, it isn’t, and don’t you ever think that. They planned this, that’s the only explanation; you had to have been starved just shy of death. You would have jumped on anyone who came by here after torment like that...”

Ben nodded his understanding and said, “They kept me in a cage; they said that they knew I had come from a pocket of resistance and that they knew how to use me to find it... And you... Oh, oh no.” 

Han gave a sad smile as Ben put two and two together: they didn’t expect Ben to kill him at all. No, they expected him to stop just shy of the act, thus causing Han to turn and be coerced into leading them to the humans. 

“We can’t let that happen, Ben,” Han said, reaching up to pull his son’s hand from the bite on his shoulder. “You have to finish it.”

“I can’t!” Ben said, feeling sick at the suggestion. “Dad, I can’t, I don’t have the strength...” 

“You can and you do,” Han said firmly. “You have to, Ben. It’s the only way to ensure the safety of the resistance; if I live through this, they’ll only pit us against one another until they get what they want.” 

Ben gazed at Han, his eyes shining with unshed tears and a thousand unspoken things that lay between them. Ben knew that Han was right, it was the only way to keep his mother and the others safe, the only way to keep hope alive. Han saw the resolve in his son’s eyes and tilted his head to expose his shoulder once again, hiding a grimace of pain as the change sank deeper into his bones. 

Ben leaned in towards his father, then paused and said, “Dad...”

“I know.” 

“General?” A voice jerked Leia out of her reverie, and she turned to see Poe giving her a look of deep concern. “Are you alright?”

“Yes, of course,” Leia said, gently wiping tears from her cheeks. “What is it?”

“There is a car approaching,” Poe said briskly. “Old, black and modified for UV protection by the looks of it. They gave the code with the high beams, so we know that it’s at least Finn, Rose and Rey.” 

“You still don’t think he came,” Leia said, and it wasn’t a question. She knew that Poe was a hard one to convince about her son’s willingness to help, but she also knew that he wouldn’t go against her even if he didn’t agree with her decision. 

“If you believe in him, then I will,” Poe said stiffly. 

“I appreciate your loyalty, Poe,” Leia said, moving to stand in front of him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Come on then, let’s greet them and see about our next move.” 

Leia lead the way down the hall, forcing herself to keep a calm and dignified pace, nodding in returned greeting as those she passed said hello. She could tell from their faces that they were concerned about the idea of a vampire being secreted among them, but like Poe, they were loyal and trusted Leia implicitly; she supposed that must be enough. 

“Doors,” she said as she approached the heavily guarded entrance. A bright eyed young man jumped to follow her order, throwing his weight into the heavy, steel reinforced door, forcing it to swing wide open. As Leia exited the building, she could hear everyone behind her click wooden bolts into their weapons in preparation to defend their leader if need be. She wanted badly to snap at them to put them away, that there would be no need, but held her peace, understanding that they likely felt as helpless as she did and were only leaning on the weapons as a sort of security blanket. She couldn’t bring herself to deny them that; as if reading her mind, Poe did it for her. 

“Remember the General’s orders,” he barked fiercely. “Keep any and ALL weapons pointed down at all times; they are only to be raised if it is one hundred percent clear that her life is in danger. Am I understood?”

“Yes Captain,” came the reply without hesitation, and Leia found herself letting out a breath that she hadn’t known she’d been holding. It made her feel slightly dizzy, but she shook it off and kept her eyes locked on the windshield of the familiar car, now close enough that she could tell without a hint of a doubt that it was Han’s old car. Hope washed over her in a near unbearable wave; if they had managed to get this car, then Ben would surely be with them. 

The engine rumbled a deep, familiar note as it pulled up in front of the open door with the driver’s side door directly in front of Leia, idled for a few seconds, then the engine cut and all that could be heard was the ticking of the cooling parts under the hood. She felt her eyes widen at the heinous damage that the vehicle had taken: it’s paint scratched to hell, riddled with bullet holes, and she could even see that the rear window had been blown out and was covered with a tarp. Worry crept back into her heart and up her throat, choking her as she began to calculate how likely it was that more than one person had made it. Maybe Ben wasn’t with them; he would have been unable to manage in the sunlight with the UV shield destroyed like that. What if one of them had been shot?

Intterupting her thoughts, both doors opened with a loud popping sound from the old latches, making Leia jump slightly, and Finn and Rose’s faces both appeared, looking tired but pleased. 

“Welcome back,” Leia said, forcing herself to sound like her usual calm self, but by the knowing look on Finn’s face she wasn’t doing a very good job. She couldn’t keep her eyes from darting back to the unholy level of damage that her husband’s old car had sustained; it was all salvageable of course, but it wouldn’t matter if no one else climbed out of the car.

“Leia,” Finn said, his voice taking on a soothing note. “Everyone made it fine...”

But Leia could no longer hear him, only a high ringing that seemed to consume everything and everyone around her except for the tall, broad figure who had emerged from behind the driver’s seat, standing to his full height and finding her eyes with his own. Unaware that she was moving at all, Leia stepped forward towards her son, coming to stand only a foot away from him, craning her neck to keep eye contact, marveling at just how much he hadn’t changed. 

His raven hair hadn’t grown due to the freezing of time that the change brought on, it still twisted and curled softly to his jaw keeping his ears covered, though he had taken to pushing it back a bit from his face. His skin was still pale, unblemished by time, dusted with beauty marks that she had always loved, like a constelation of stars. His eyes were still the same jarring amber-orange that they had been the last time they had spoken, but now they held a glint that she could only describe as alive and healthy, maybe even hopeful or happy. 

“Mom,” he said softly, and she began to cry at the low timber of his voice, which also hadn’t changed at all. This man wasn’t a monster, this was her son, her Ben, and oh dear Lord how she had missed him. She saw his eyes widen slightly, startled by her sudden tears, then she pulled him into a fierce hug, throwing her arms as far up as she could reach towards his shoulders, burying her face into the lower part of his chest with enough force that his breath came out of him in a short gasp. 

“Hello, Ben,” she said, her voice muffled by his shirt but still perfectly audible to his ears. “I’ve missed you so much.” 

Momentarily startled, Ben returned his mother’s embrace and said, “I’ve missed you too... It’s good to see you again; I didn’t think I ever would.”

Rey, having emerged from the car after Ben, smiled fondly at the sight of their reunion before casting a slightly accusatory eye towards Poe, who looked torn between the desire to look away and give them a moment and his protective nature that demanded he not. He met Rey’s eye and made a face that might have been apologetic before returning his gaze to Ben and Leia, who had broken their embrace just enough to meet one another’s eyes. The height contrast between them might have been comical to Poe, under different circumstances; unable to help himself, Poe took an uneasy step forward, the sound of his boot on the gravel causing Ben to dart his amber eyes up to him. 

“Good to see you made it in one piece,” Poe said, fighting to keep the tightness from his voice. Ben’s eyes flashed and Poe knew that he was aware of the lie, though he didn’t point it out. 

“Finn is a skilled driver,” Ben said smoothly, not blinking as he maintained eye contact and took a short step back from Leia, breaking the hug. The scent of fear in Poe’s blood was almost nauseating in its intensity, but Ben couldn’t bring himself to blame him. Leia was his leader, and Ben knew right away that Poe was the type of person to NEED a leader to look to for structure and to be a voice of reason. 

“If you two are done with your pissing contest,” Finn said, as if Ben mentioning his name were his cue to cut in. “We have a lot to discuss; Poe, is everyone who’s going ready to roll out?” 

“Yeah, we’re all set,” Poe said, tearing his eyes away from Ben. “We were just waiting for you guys to arrive safely. I still think we should wait for daybreak, though...” 

“There aren’t any hunting raids out this way,” Ben said. “The trackers have orders to go East for the next few days.” 

“North or South East?” Poe asked, all possible hostility gone from his demeanor. 

“North,” Ben said, feeling the tension leave the air between them, though he knew that the entire crowd was watching the exchange carefully, half in fear of the monster among them, and the other half noting the important information being discussed. “We always start with the Northern ends of the four sectors... If you have a map, I could show you better where they’re at.” 

“There’s one in the conference room,” Leia chimed in, drawing everyone’s attention. “Come on then, like Finn said, we have a lot to discuss, and pouring over the map seems like as good a place to start as any.” 

The map lay spread out on the large table, accompanied by several pages from an atlas that had been hastily torn from their book and arranged by sector. Ben still held the red Sharpie that he had been given to write with, resisting the urge to chew on the end of it, a nasty habit that he hadn’t been able to shake. 

“Alright,” Poe said, nodding with satisfaction before gathering the pages in a haphazard stack. “This is incredibly helpful, Ben, thank you.” 

“Happy to help,” Ben said, replacing the cap on the pen and setting it down on the table. “Just remember, this information is good for two days at the most, likely far less since we don’t have confirmation of Armitage’s fate. If he made it back to the city, you have less than a day before the hunting party comes this way.” 

“We’ll cross that bridge when and if we come to it,” Leia said from her seat at the table. Ben met her eyes and nodded, admiring how calm she remained on the surface when, inside, he knew that she was mulling over her fear of the unknown. If the Ren fell on Poe and his team, they would lose half of their number, and even more if they found the group of resistance fighters that they were going out to meet. They were making a huge gamble, and everyone knew it, but it seemed to be one that they were more than willing to take. 

“We’ll be in contact over the CB,” Poe said, earning him a nod from Leia before he left the room, juggling the small stack of maps. 

After a brief second, Ben sank into a chair directly across from Rey, who had sat quietly the entire time he had been conversing with Poe, her hazel eyes never leaving Ben’s face. Often, he darted his amber gaze to hers, but whether or not it was to include her in the conversation or reassure himself that she was still there, he couldn’t say, all he knew was that having her there was quelling the odd panic that had settled itself over his heart since seeing his mother standing there waiting for him. 

Under the table, Rey kicked the toe of Ben’s shoe and gave him what could only be an encouraging smile when he looked up to her. He returned her smile then opened his mouth to say something, but at that moment, Finn entered the room, followed closely by Rose, then shut the door before looking to Leia as if to ask permission to speak, which she gave with a slight nod. 

“Right,” FInn said, clapping his hands together, then sinking down into a chair. “Did Rey fill you in on anything pertaining to the reason we invited you here, Ben?” 

“Only the fact that you have a better course of action to solving this conflict than what the vampires are planning,” Ben said, once again darting his eyes to Rey. 

“The vampire who followed you said something about Rey and Rose being in a prime age for child-bearing?” 

Ben inhaled slowly before saying, “Their plan is to kidnap as many women as possible and breed them, then clone the babies and accelerate their growth until they can be bled to feed the population. The men will be farmed right off the bat, and once the women are too old to safely carry children, they will be too. The female babies will be raised to be bred, and the cycle will repeat.” 

“Sweet Jesus,” Rose breathed, the blood draining from her face at the horror of it all. 

“I’m afraid he had nothing to do with it,” Ben said, casting her an apologetic glance. “The idea sickens me beyond words; I’ll go along with anything you’ve got in mind, so long as it’s better than that.” 

“Our intention is to cure vampirism,” Finn said. “As I was saying before we were interrupted.”

“I still don’t see how you plan on doing that when you don’t even know how you accomplished it in the first place,” Ben said, doubt lacing his voice. “We’ve tried everything we can think of, and every single test subject has died, violently, I might add.” 

“See, I think that THAT is precisely the trick behind it,” Finn said excitedly, leaning forward onto the table towards Ben, his eyes glinting. “You see, what happened was, I nearly burned to death.” 

“I... don’t understand,” Ben said after several seconds in which Ben met everyone’s eyes around the table, Rey’s last. When she nodded that Finn wasn’t joking, Ben looked back to the former vampire. “How?” 

“I was being chased,” Finn said. “Poe, Rey and Rose had me cornered up in an old lake house, trying to talk with me, but I didn’t believe them. When they breached the door, I panicked and threw myself from the third floor... Right into the lake below.” 

“The sun?” Ben asked, incredulous. “You’re human because of the sun?!” 

“That’s my theory, yes,” Finn said, smirking. “Hurt like hell, let me tell you; but just before I felt death begin to sink in, I hit the water. The flames went out everywhere except for my lungs, and it took me a minute to realize that my lungs were burning because I needed to breathe.” 

Ben continued to stare at Finn, finding himself unable to believe what he was being told, but also unwilling to deny it. Vampires didn’t NEED to breathe oxygen, they only did because it was a human reflex that they didn’t have to think about. He also had no proof that Finn had ever been a vampire, except for the two puncture scars on his neck, and the word of Rey and Rose, who both swore it was true. In addition, Ben needed to believe that it was possible, because it meant that he had a second shot, a way out of the skin of a monster that had been forced onto him. And, even if it didn’t work the way Finn claimed... It was still a way out. 

“What we need to figure out is how to control the experiment in a way that is safe for you,” Rey said, drawing Ben out of his own thoughts. “We could technically toss you out of a window and hope the results are the same, but we have no way of knowing what physical factors affected Finn’s outcome. Something as random as one degree of temperature difference could potentially be the difference between life and death for all we know.” 

“That leaves no margin for error,” Ben said, allowing himself a smirk, though he wasn’t sure where exactly the humor in the situation was. “With no way to know for sure how long you were exposed to the sunlight before hitting the water... I would say that that is going to be our biggest challenge, timing the sun exposure just right. Water will put out the fire regardless of its temperature, so the trick will be figuring out how long to allow the burn.” 

“We could have you jump from the same height and see how long it takes you to come to the ground,” Rose suggested, though she didn’t sound confident with the idea. 

“No,” Ben said thoughtfully, giving a slight shake of his head and looking to Finn. “What did you feel before you hit the water? Can you recall anything that you would say signaled the change, in hindsight?” 

Finn’s brow furrowed in thought for several tense moments before he met Ben’s eyes and said, “It felt like my heart... stopped. Which doesn’t really make much sense considering it wasn’t actually beating at the time, but that’s the only way I can think to describe it.”

Ben could practically feel Rey’s eyes on his face as he mulled over what Finn said, and he darted his eyes to hers, finding her face pinched in thought as well. Ben knew what it was like to have his heart stop inside of his chest in a very literal sense, but he got the impression that Finn hadn’t meant that it felt like it sputtered out. 

“I think that the best way to go about this is the obvious way,” Ben said. “Expose me to direct sunlight, then put the flames out.” 

“How will we know WHEN to do that, though?” Rose asked, a slight note of panic in her voice, and Ben saw Rey place a gentle hand on her shoulder in a comforting gesture. “What if we go too far and kill him?”

“That’s a risk we have to take,” Ben said. “It’s one I’m more than willing to take, for everyone.”

At his words, Rey’s heartbeat picked up, but she kept her face composed, something Ben wondered if she had learned from his mother, who wore a similar expression. Ben found himself wanting to reach out and take Rey’s hand to comfort her the way she had done for Rose, but stopped himself, knowing full well what her touch would do to him. Rey saw his fingers twitch, and she gave him a soft smile by way of acknowledgement. 

“What we have to do is come up with a way to safely control the burn, and then douse you,” Rey said. “The tricky part will be doing it at just the right moment...” 

“How many shots will we have at this?” Rose asked, producing a small note pad and pen to jot down notes in her messy handwriting. “I mean, you’re literally going to be set on fire, and there’s no way to know how many times it will take before you either can’t go on or...” 

Ben quirked a wry smile at the words left unsaid before saying, “Vampires heal rapidly, so I think it’s going to come down to mental endurance more so than physical...”

“So it sounds like we need a rig that can contain the flames and put you out,” Rose said, repeating Rey’s words while thoughtfully tapping the tip of her pen on the pad. “I’ll see what I can work up; we have enough junk laying around that needs a purpose, and I can’t think of one much better than this.” 

“Thank you,” Ben said, and he meant it. Part of him knew that Rose could easily use this as a means of killing him, but an even bigger part told him that she never would. He couldn’t tell if that part was moved by her sister’s memory, or the drive to end the vampirism virus for good, but he didn’t care. Either way, he was contributing to something worth while, and if it cost him his life, then so be it. 

Ben locked eyes with Rey as everyone stood and began to go about their business, and the glint he saw made his jaw ache for her blood, and heat pool low in his core for something that her blood couldn’t sate. It almost physically pained him to watch her go and follow Finn in the opposite direction of his room.


	6. SIX

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hux is confronted by Snoke.
> 
> Rey and Ben get a little alone time ;) if ya know what I mean! Wait till you’ve read the chap to read the notes, or risk possible spoilers!
> 
> So sorry for the delay in updates! New baby + postpartum depression and anxiety = struggling to maintain a good writing schedule lol 
> 
> Follow me on Tumblr: xxkittensarmedwithmachinegunsxx

Hux: 

It took every ounce of effort he could muster not to twitch under the steely gaze of his boss as Hux stood in his office. He knew that he had fucked up royally, and judging by the murder that he saw in Snoke’s eyes, he was looking at nothing less than execution for his short coming. He resolved himself not to make a pathetic mess of himself, but he could feel that slipping away from him as seconds dragged into agonizing minutes of silence.  
“Sir, I,-“ Hux tried, only to be cut off immediately.  
“Do not speak!” Snoke snapped, his voice dangerously low. His tone scared Hux more than if he had been yelling, because at least then his fury would be focused on making a scene to embarrass him. At the moment, everything about Snoke’s posture was predatory: fangs bared in anger, eyes coal black with fury as he slowly stalked around his desk towards Hux, who was fighting every instinct that was screaming at him to flee for his life. His nails bit into his palms as he clenched his fists, willing himself not to even breathe, lest he set Snoke off somehow.  
The older vampire stopped in front of Hux, close enough to touch, looming over him like an angry shadow, seemingly daring Hux to move.  
“You assured me,” Snoke said slowly. “That you could get not only Kylo, but any women he was with. I do believe your exact words were, ‘the traitor and his human whore.’ You were emphatically certain that he was communicating with the human resistance, were you not?”  
Hux nodded stiffly, still not speaking and forcing himself to maintain eye contact. He was standing so stiff that his shoulders began to ache, but it was a small price to pay if it meant Snoke wouldn’t rip his throat out with his bare hands.  
“And now, two of my tracking units are dead, including two of my finest trackers,” Snoke spat, holding up two fingers for emphasis. “And I am standing here with an incompetent fool, empty handed. Tell me why I shouldn’t kill you where you stand, Armitage, because I am genuinely considering it right now.”  
“Sir,” Hux said, his dry throat making it come out raspy and forcing him to swallow, which did little to help the situation. “It is true that I heavily underestimated the resistance, but, we did not come away empty handed. W-we have scent samples that will be beneficial in tracking them down, and we know what direction they headed in.”  
“The scents on the tarp are nearly indistinguishable from the stink of dirt,” Snoke drawled.  
“Y-yes, that is true,” Hux said, taking an involuntary step back. “But one of the scents proved to be familiar enough to identify as a traitor, one who defected several years back and was never brought to justice. He was assumed dead after a time, but the presence of his scent proves otherwise.”  
“And how do you propose we track him without a more reliable source to follow?” Snoke asked, crossing his arms. “The scents aren’t easy to identify, I have already said this.”  
“We have another source that matches,” Hux said quickly. “An old uniform, worn by a former team member of the fifth Ren Team; it was matched by the captain, Ushar, who said that the scent trail heads to the West... The exact opposite direction that Kylo ordered the trackers to clear.”  
Snoke considered Hux’s words for a moment before saying, “It seems that you may be able to salvage this situation after all, Armitage.”  
“If you see fit to give me that chance,” Hux replied, trying to sound bold but it came out sounding rather desperate. The look of annoyance that passed over Snoke’s face confirmed that he looked as pathetic as he felt.  
“Make no mistake,” Snoke warned. “This will be your last chance. Fuck this up, and your life is forfeit. I want Kylo brought in alive to face justice, and I want every last human as well, living or dead. Clones can easily be manufactured from a dead donor.”  
“It will be done, right away,” Hux said, jutting his chin forward. “I will assemble the fifth and sixth Ren teams and head out immediately.”  
Snoke made a dismissive gesture and turned back towards his desk; he didn’t expect Hux to survive the raid on the human resistance, but it was no great loss. In fact, it would be preferable, Snoke decided, and he pressed a call button on his phone.  
“Yes sir?” A mechanical sounding voice asked upon answering.  
“Armitage will be accompanying the raid parties... Ensure that he is removed from concern.”  
“Yes sir,” the raid leader said, and Snoke hung up without further words. 

Ben: 

“Am I worthless? Am I filthy? Am I too far gone for a remedy? Will you help me? ‘Cause I’m trying to be something more than memory.” We As Human, ‘Take the Bullets Away.’

Ben sat at the desk in the small, sparsely furnished room that he had been given for the duration of his stay, contemplating the possibility that his humanity could be returned to him within the next few days. It was something no one had even thought to be possible, after many failed experiments that seemed to get progressively worse with each attempt.  
The attempts to reverse the change had begun several months before when the realization that the blood supplies were running dangerously low finally struck home. It was calculated that, even with careful rationing, the supply would run out before the turn of the season. Faced with the reality of starvation, or worse, the First Order corporation began grisly tests, first to study the effects of blood deprivation, followed by attempts to create a good substitute. When both programs proved to be futile, they turned their efforts towards finding a way to reverse the change; Ben grimaced as he recalled those tests, and the never ending string of unwilling test subjects.  
“They’re convicts, Kylo,” Hux said pointedly as they observed the scientists from above the operating theatre where experiments were being held. “They had their shot and they chose poorly; now, all they are is a drain on our resources. This way, they’re serving the greater good, and being removed from concern if the experiments fail.”  
“You say ‘if’ as though we’ve had anything other than failures,” Ben said, frowning as he watched the doctor inject a terrified looking convict with UV treated blood. “These experiments are a waste of resources at this point! There’s no cure for vampirism except for the sun...”  
“There’s no cure YET,” Hux said emphatically, his eyes taking on a crazed light as the test subject began to thrash erratically, an inhuman sound coming from his throat. “We just have to keep trying, think outside of the box, bring in fresh minds...”  
“And in the mean time, our blood supply is running dangerously low,” Ben reminded him, wincing as the convict began to vomit black, rotting blood. Even with the glass separating the observation deck from the theatre, Ben could smell the gut wrenching rot and death being emitted.  
“The rations will help with that.”  
“For a time, sure,” Ben countered, glancing at Hux, who appeared to be enjoying watching the unlucky vampire below die in agony. “But that will eventually fail, too, and when it does, we’ll have a starving population to contend with. How can we expect out scientists and doctors to function while fighting hunger like that?”  
“We won’t feel the effects of the ration edict,” Hux said as though it were obvious. “Seeing as we are the leading company in solving this crisis, it obviously wont do to be restricting ourselves from the one thing that keeps our hold on our sanity.”  
Ben stared at Hux incredulously as he turned to the other side of the observation deck to watch a test being performed on a vampire who was starved to the edge of death. Reluctantly, Ben moved to do the same, trying to tell himself not to feel pity for the poor creature. Lack of nourishment had left it emaciated, skin grey and waxy, hanging off of it’s bones. Ben couldn’t even tell if had been a man or woman before being subjected to this torture, but he supposed that it didn’t matter; there was no going back once a vampire had been starved to this point. This one was being fed UV treated blood rather than injected with it, and Ben watched as it shrank away from the bag of blood being offered to it, as though it could sense something wasn’t right about it. The UV treatments, depending on the duration of exposure, broke down the cells until the blood was little more than a soup of plasma and platelets.  
“You seem confident that we’ll be able to find a cure for this before that contingency fails us as well,” Ben said. “So hell bent on saving ourselves that we wont even consider the possibility that this is it for us as a species.”  
“And you seem as though you’ve all but given up entirely,” Hux said, a note of disgust in his tone. “Have you lost all hope so soon, Kylo?”  
“Don’t kid yourself, Armitage,” Ben said sardonically. “This isn’t about hope, and it never was; this is about control.”  
“And what if it is? Are you really going to stand there and pretend like you wont be relieved when we figure this thing out? That you’ll refuse it? Get the hell off of your high horse, Kylo, it doesn’t suit you.”  
Before Ben could reply, there was a commotion below, and the two vampires watched in shock as the starved vampire launched itself onto the nearest doctor and tore his throat out in a desperate bid for blood that wasn’t tainted.  
“Ben?”  
Rey’s voice pulled him from his reverie, and he turned to see her standing in the doorway, a small smile on her lips. Ben returned the smirk, turning in his chair to face her.  
“Sorry, I was... Thinking,” Ben said.  
“Must have been something deep, judging by the look on your face,” Rey said casually, entering the room and moving to perch herself on the low bed, tucking her feet underneath herself.  
“I guess you could say that, yeah,” Ben said, swallowing hard as the scent of her blood awakened his hunger with a roar, making his jaw ache.  
“Care to share?”  
“You don’t want to know, trust me,” Ben murmured, eyes fixated on Rey’s neck. He noted that her worn out tank top was threadbare, revealing just enough of her breasts to be a tease. Her lack of a bra didn’t escape his notice either, and it struck him that she likely hadn’t come to his room for idle conversation.  
“I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t,” Rey countered, an almost imperceptible smirk playing on her mouth as she noted where’s Ben’s eyes were tracking.  
“Just remembering all of the failed experiments the First Order did while trying to find a cure and blood substitute,” Ben said, shifting slightly as his growing arousal made his pants uncomfortably tight. “They were... Horrific, to say the least, and rarely ended in anything other than the death of either the test subject, a doctor or both.”  
“Are you nervous about ours?” Rey asked, kicking her feet out from under her and leaning towards Ben, watching as the amber of his eyes was swallowed by the telltale black of lust and thirst.  
“No,” Ben said huskily.  
“Are you afraid to die?”  
“No.”  
“What is it then, that has you wound so tight?” Rey asked, suddenly playing coy, though her tone remained low and filled with desire. Ben could smell it in her blood, sweet and intoxicating, simply begging him to taste.  
Ben swallowed hard and met Rey’s eyes, hardly caring that they were pitch black, though it clearly didn’t bother Rey, who looked rather pleased with herself at the moment. It was taking every ounce of self control that he had to keep himself seated and not launch himself at her to sink his teeth into her neck as he explored her body.  
“You,” he answered truthfully. “Just you.”  
Rey reached out her hand towards Ben, who returned the contact slowly so as to maintain what little control over himself that he still had, placing his palm against hers gently, savoring the near scorching heat of her touch. He didn’t think he would ever tire of that beautiful sensation as long as he lived.  
They sat that way for several moments, sexual tension bouncing between them like electricity as they held one another’s gaze, black on hazel, dark night and bright sun before Rey suddenly grasped Ben’s wrist and jerked him towards her with a near desperate gasp. Ben followed without hesitation, dropping to his knees in front of her, positioned between her legs, and when Rey brought her mouth to his, the overwhelming feeling of rightness washed over him.  
This kiss, unlike the brief one they shared earlier at the convenience store, held no hesitation at all, no mere brushing of their lips in an agonizing show of restraint. They moved together in an almost feverish dance, tasting and taking one another in as if this kiss was the only thing keeping them alive. Rey felt a wave of dizziness sweep over her that was not unpleasant and she wondered if it was an effect of Ben’s kiss, the vampirism in his saliva lulling her into a delirium for the express purpose of feeding on her. The thought excited her beyond reason and she clutched at his shoulders, pulling herself flush against him with a sharp intake of breath at the chill of his body. Even through their clothing, she could feel the dramatic difference between her temperature and his.  
Ben felt as though he were being pressed against hot iron holding Rey in his arms, her small frame molded against his chest. He could feel the thrum of her blood as it rushed through her veins at an elevated pace, the already intoxicating scent becoming laced through with her arousal. Ben could taste her need for him on her tongue, sweet and agonizing, it awakened his own desire and caused heat to pool low in his belly. Trailing kisses down along her jaw, he let his hands roam her body, feeling every curve under his fingers, leaving goosebumps in their wake, loving the way she sighed with pleasure and arched her body into him.  
“You’re holding back,” Rey said, her voice breathy with excitement. She laced her fingers into his raven hair, tugging gently to show her pleasure as she felt his mouth skirt along the tender skin of her neck. “Don’t.”  
“I have to,” Ben replied, struggling to keep a quiver from his voice as he pressed his lips to her neck just above her pulse point. He could feel the blood rushing through her jugular under his lips as he pressed a kiss down onto her flesh; the drive to sink his teeth into her continued to grow with each passing second, but he forced himself to hold back, almost relishing the pure agony it caused him not to. There was a stark clarity in that pain, as it forced him to face the startling truth that, if he allowed the monster to take what it wanted, he would lose her forever. Even if he managed not to kill her, she would still undergo the change and thus be fated for death, either at the hands of the resistance, or the slow, painful death that starvation would bring. He refused to allow that to happen.  
“You won’t hurt me, Ben,” Rey said, the certainty in her voice giving him pause, and he met her eyes again to see that resolve reflected there. “I trust you, I have since I shot you and you didn’t run.”  
“I understand that you trust me, Rey,” Ben said. “But that has nothing to do with my hesitation... I don’t trust myself to give into this completely. I know that I’d rather die than harm you in any way, but keeping my thirst in check is harder than it aught to be right now. I have never been drawn to someone the way I am to you, and I would never forgive myself if I hurt you or worse.”  
“You are not the monster you seem convinced of,” Rey said softly, gently brushing a few strands of hair from his eyes, then trailing her fingers to brush across his lips. “I don’t know how to prove that to you, Ben, but you’ve already convinced me of it.”  
Ben swallowed hard and asked, “What do you want from me?”  
“Nothing,” Rey whispered. “Just you.”  
Hearing her echo his own words soothed something inside of himself that he couldn’t identify, and Ben relented to his feelings with feverish intent. He brought his mouth back to Rey’s, kissing her with renewed passion as he pushed her backwards onto the bed, following after her as she scooted to make room for him. They broke the kiss long enough for Rey to yank upwards on Ben’s shirt, pulling it free from the waist of his pants and upwards. Ben pulled his shirt over his head and cast it aside in a smooth motion, hardly pausing to enjoy the feeling of Rey’s hands as she traced up his stomach to his chest, marveling at the way his pale skin felt under her fingertips, the coiled muscle beneath shuddering at her touch. He was the most beautiful man she’d ever seen, scars and all, and she leaned forward to press a kiss onto his sternum, all the while keeping eye contact with him.  
Supressing a predatory sound low in his chest, Ben grasped the thin fabric of Rey’s shirt and tore the fabric open, revealing her naked chest. Rey gave a short, delighted laugh at how unceremonious the action was, and the sound became a moan when Ben bent over her and ran his tongue gently over the nipple of her right breast, gently pinching the left one between his fingers at the same time. It was as if she’d never been touched before in her life; the feeling was both delicious and agonizing in its intensity as waves of heat coursed through her body at his manipulations. He somehow managed to be agonizingly gentle with her while at the same time making it clear just how badly he wanted to ravage every inch of her, one hand digging fingers into the flesh of her thigh hard enough to bruise while the other was the epitome of soft passion as he cupped her small breast in his massive hand.  
Growing suddenly frustrated with her need, Rey shoved back at Ben’s shoulders, forcing him to sit back on his heels. Rey didn’t even flinch when he bared his teeth at her with distaste at being interrupted, instead focusing on tugging at his belt which may as well have been locked for all the good her feverish hands were doing. Ben grasped her by the wrists and pinned her hands above her head with one of his own, using his other to push her own worn jeans down her hips to her thighs. The scent of her arousal was intoxicating, and Ben paused pushing her jeans down to trace his fingers down over her sex, savoring the slick heat of her. Rey gasped at the combination of sensation and chill of his skin, her hips bucking slightly as his fingers caressed her sensitive clit.  
“Ben!” Rey gasped, watching as a smirk pulled at his lips, one that said he took a bit too much delight in the torture that one simple move caused. Meeting her eyes, Ben gently began to circle his fingers around her clit, taking cues from her body as he pushed her towards a climax she hadn’t anticipated right away. “Please, Ben!”  
“You’re so beautiful, do you know that?” Ben murmured, completely mesmerized by the way her eyes fluttered closed and how her body reacted to his touch. He’d never been so captivated by a woman under his touch, and he knew he never wanted any other. Gently, he slipped his middle and index fingers inside of her, keeping his coal black eyes locked on her face, gauging her reaction.  
“Ah,” Rey gasped in a mix of shock and pleasure, surprised at how the chill of his skin added to the delicious feeling of his fingers caressing her inside. Her back arched involuntarily as he began to stroke her gently, using a ‘come here’ gesture with his fingertips, and circling her clit with his thumb. Rey gasped again, stunned at just how quickly Ben had managed to bring to the edge of the release she so desperately craved.  
“I want you,” Ben breathed, his voice hardly audible. “Please, Rey... let me have you?”  
“YES!” Rey panted, her desperation adding an edge of panic to her tone. She felt that, if she didn’t find her release soon, she just might burn into nothing with longing. She found that she didn’t even care that there was a potential double meaning to his words, she agreed to them either way. She WANTED him to take her as his own, be it sexually or by sinking his teeth into her in order to sustain his own life with her blood. “I’m yours, Ben, yours!”  
Supressing a snarl, Ben brought his mouth back to Rey’s in a feverish kiss, savoring the taste of her tongue as she returned the gesture, her arousal thick on her saliva, sweeter than anything he’d ever tasted before. He continued to move his fingers within her, thrusting her towards her impending orgasm with feverish intent, almost craving her release as much as she was. He wanted nothing more in that moment other than to watch her come undone under his hands, cry out and scream his name as her orgasm overtook her; he could hear the blood rushing through her veins as her heart rate soared, and could feel her begin to shake as her release neared.  
“Hey, Ben, I- OH!”  
Both Ben and Rey jumped at the sound of the voice that was coming from the doorway, Ben in defense and Rey out of shock. Both of them flinched and looked towards to door to see Rose standing there, blushing a furious shade of red.  
“I am SO sorry,” she stammered, keeping her eyes to the floor and seeming to struggle with what to do with her hands. “I, uh.. Shit, I’m sorry. I can come back- yes, back, uh-,”  
“W-wait,” Rey said, sitting up and giving Ben a smirk filled with more humor than he could find. “Rose, what did you need?”  
“Um,” Rose said, her blush deepening. “I was coming to tell Ben that I think I have an idea of how to set up the experiment, but you guys are, ah... clearly busy, so I can come back... I’m so sorry.”  
“Oh,” Rey said. “No, Rose, you’re fine, honestly. Just give us a second, okay?”  
Rose mumbled something unintelligible and moved out of sight, but Ben knew she was still there, simply waiting for the two of them. He found himself unreasonably annoyed with the woman, though he couldn’t deny that Rey was right in her implication that the experiment was a priority at the moment. Ben cast a look at Rey, and she nodded to him, a smile dancing on her lips.  
“Um, here,” Ben said, stripping off his button down shirt and handing it to Rey, who pulled it on and swiftly buttoned it, covering her lovely form. “Hold that thought.”  
Pausing for just long enough to give Ben a kiss, Rey stood up from the bed and went to greet Rose in the hall, followed shortly by a very frustrated Ben.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I’m such a tease!! Hope this got you as worked up to read as it did me to write!!


End file.
